The Road Ahead
by Arcanine507
Summary: This story follows a young trainer named Blame and his story starts 20 years after black/white 2. He simply wanted to travel the region to become the best he can be, but little does he know he will have a bigger role with the legends as the legendary Pokemon grow restless with their current roles in this world.
1. Prologue & Ch 1

-Prologue-

"This is so stupid," I thought to myself. "Why do I have to write a history report as my final project? Everyone will just do the same people as usual."

I wanted to pick someone that was well known, but the information surrounding most legendary trainers was mostly myths. I started to go down the list of people I know everyone would pick starting with Ethan. Everyone picks that guy, especially the girls because he's apparently very attractive. He's the one that's said to have captured Ho-oh although he's never used him in battle. He has done a lot as the Johto champion so it would be good to pick him because there are real facts on him.

I bet at least one guy would write a story about Nate; the current region champion. I thought about doing it on him because at least he didn't disappear and he saved Opelucid city from being frozen. He was also the one that finally ended Team Plasma once and for all after they had a second uprising.

Then there's the hero of this region, Hilbert, but no one really knows about him because he disappeared twenty years ago. All that we know is that he left in search of someone named N and now that N is back in this region, it's obvious he isn't who Hilbert is looking for. Some say he is really looking for Red.

Red; a lot of people will write about him, but most of the information on him is just myth. He was the original hero. Even the furthest away regions know about Red because it was him that crushed Team Rocket before becoming an unbeatable trainer of legend. It has been so long since anyone has seen him. There was the Red that shocked everyone when he showed up at the Pokémon World Tournament in Driftveil City, but after he lost, it was revealed that he was fake. I never would have thought you could be arrested for pretending to be someone else.

I sighed because I wanted to write about Red. He is, after all, my hero. The truest rumor I heard of Red was that he trains on a very secluded part of Mount silver. I decided I won't because I don't know what is really true about him. Some say he travels with all legendary Pokémon and others say he never really existed.

So I laid back in thought when a smile broke across my face. Who is the one trainer I know more about then anyone else. "My dad would be perfect!" I exclaimed. "He is well known and would fit the requirements set by the teacher," and I excitedly began to write about my dad.

-Ch. 1 The Road Ahead-

"My history report on a famous trainer is none other than my dad Blaine. Blaine was the Kanto region's eighth gym leader. He fought with fire type Pokémon and being one of the Kanto region's original gym leaders, he can confirm that he fought and lost to the great trainer, Red." I stopped and looked up at the surprised faces of my classmates. I hid my grin because I knew that made them jealous. "My dad is brilliant and since there are already very smart Pokémon researchers, he decided he would study Pokémon moves and abilities since there are even less known about that then Pokémon themselves. My dad is the one that came up with the theory of Pokémon having levels and that being the connection between how Pokémon learn new moves and also it may solve the greater question on how and when Pokémon evolve. He helped make many of the tm's that we see in our markets around the world.

One day may dad met a pretty woman at a hotel he had opened on his native island called Cinnabar Island and he followed love back to this region two years after the second attack of team plasma and soon after I was born. As for my final fact about my dad, it is that he once got lost in a in a treacherous, freezing mountain range. He on the point of giving up when the legendary Pokémon Moltres guided him out of the mountain range. That forever changed him and gave him the burning passion he has for fire type Pokémon," I concluded.

I took a breath and looked at my teacher. "That's all I wrote on my dad, Mrs. Doe," and took my seat.

The teacher smiled and said "Thank you, Blame. That was a very good and very detailed story about your father." She stopped and look at the small class of ten kids with ages ranging from ten to sixteen. I was the oldest, but that was only because I helped my dad in his lab research. "So now that everyone has finished presenting their assignments, does anyone know why it was your final assignment?" When no one raised their hand, she continued. "It is to inspire you to be as good as these trainers an dto strive to be as good as you can be, because who knows, you could be as good as them. With that said I will say you all passed this final grade and you all are officially Pokémon trainers!"

The class screamed their heads off as the teacher passed out each and everyone's official Pokémon trainer cards with our pictures already on it.

I was so excited when I was handed mine and then, once she had finished, she walked to the door and said "now explore the world young trainers, but remember to get your own Pokémon before you go out into the wild," and she opened the door. We ran out and I ran right onto the city streets of Aspertia. Leaving the school in the dust, I ran right for my dad's lab; just east of the school and the Pokémon center.

I was so happy that I burst through the door like a raging fire ball. It scared my dad to death and ran over to yell at me, but stopped when he saw what was in my hand. An official Unova region trainer card.

Anger turned to happiness as he exclaimed "My son is finally a Pokémon trainer! I'm so happy that you finally have your own card." He looked up and started to yell out to the small wooden house on the other side of the lab. "Sidney, honey, come seen what your son has finally got." No longer did he yell it then my mom appear out of the house, running towards us. Her curly black hair tired into a pony tail and her sundress seemed to fly behind her as she ran to me.

Before I had a chance to brace myself she grabbed me and hugged me tight. "Oh my little man is finally a trainer. I'm so proud of you Blame."

"As am I Blame," my dad added. "Hon, can you let our son go because it's time."

She looked up and asked "Are you talking about that thing you discovered after that thing and now it's time for that thing you told me last night about?"

My dad chuckled at this and nodded his head. That made my mom hug me tighter before she finally let me go and I caught my breath. "Now both of you follow me," my dad said as he began to walk into the lab. I followed him with my mom next to me, holding my hand as tight as she could.

I walked through the lab with machines and other devices littered across the building and many of my dad's workers and sub-researchers congratulated me as we walked. Finally, we came to the nature preserve doors where my dad likes to keep his Pokémon and the ones he studies. He opened the doors to the rolling green hills and tall trees that is located behind his lab. It was a huge area he owned and had made it like a small version of professor Oak's outdoor habitat for Pokémon and had areas for all types. He began to walk towards the fire pits, which is his biggest area. It was where the fire types, including his Pokémon, like to rest.

As we approached the fire pits, I checked to make sure I stayed in the grass and didn't step in it because the heat generated to make a fire Pokémon feel good would burn me to a crisp. The first thing I noticed is that there were two Arcanines curled up together and his Magmar sat next to five eggs, only a few inches from both of the Arcanines. His Camerupt, Rapidash, and Torkoal were also there and their sudden attention told me that there was a show about to begin. I looked at my dad and saw huge smile graze his face and I knew what was coming when he removed his glasses.

"Riddle me this, Blame," he started, "Two Arcanines meet. One night after another, one starts to sneak out more and more to meet the other which found its way here from the wild. Then one day, an old geezer finds these two cuddled up with five eggs. Which one do you pick?"

I was usually quick on the draw with these riddles my dad comes up with, but now I was stumped. "Wait, what? Do you mean I get one of these eggs?" I asked with much anticipation.

"Yes you do son but that's not the answer to the riddle."

"Wait, what about the parents?" I asked looking at the two very big Pokémon that now were wide awake looking very intently at me.

"Blame, just because my main partner is Magmar, it doesn't mean I don't have a connection with all my Pokémon. You remember that. As for my Arcanine, he has already made it clear to the female one over there that this is natural and very good for a young Growlithe. Although I think she has her own test to preform first."

As if on cue, the female walked over to me and began to circle me as she cut me off from my mom.

"Blaine, are you sure about this?" my mom wispered as she pulled out a pokéball.

"Yes, let the female continue to analyze him. Don't bring out your Flareon. That will only make this situation a lot worse." Stubbornly, she put the pokéball back into her pocket and waited for the slightest reason to pull it back out.

The female nudged my arms as if asking for me to raise them before nudging my leg, forcing me to stand on one foot. I tried to keep my balance as she sat down in front of me and watched. All the Pokémon's eyes were on me. I tried to hold it as long as I could, but eventually I couldn't keep my balance any longer and fell. The surprising thing was that the ground wasn't what I hit. The Arcanine had come over and caught me. She gently she lowered her head letting me put my arms on the soft grass before letting go of my shirt from her jaws. I pulled myself up as she sat in front of me before looking at her mate and giving a simple bark to him. The male quickly ran over and tackled Dad before licking him all over. After my dad was covered in the warmed salvia he ran over to me and gave me a nod of approval and looked over at the Magmar.

"Nine," Arcanine barked at Magmar. Magmar grunted "Mag," before picking up the five eggs and walking over to me and placing them before me.

I looked at my dad that had gotten cleaned up and walked over before kneeling with me before the eggs. "My Arcanine was very happy that his mate gave her approval of you." he chuckled, "You have earned the trust of the parents that you will take care of and provide for whichever Growlithe you pick. You understand that, Blame?"

"Yes I do," I agreed.

"Good now which one will you pick because you haven't answered the riddle yet."

Each of the eggs looked exactly the same. How could I choose? I scanned each one over many times before I noticed a small yellow spot almost hidden from view. It wasn't like all the other green spots on the egg. I tiled my head and found a small gold circle on the egg almost covered by the grass.

"What are you looking at" Dad asked.

"The answer to your riddle, Dad," and picked up the egg with the small difference marked on its bottom.

"So that's the egg you choose, and your first partner?"

"Yes," I answered with much confidence.

My dad smiled and gave Magmar a look. Magmar began to walk over and opened his arms so I could place it in his care. Once he had the egg, he backed up to the fire pits and held the egg tight and pressed up to his flaming hot body.

"Blame, you're aware that all Pokémon have abilities right? Well I have confirmed that Magmar's ability allows him hatch eggs faster if the eggs are near him. I decided to call it flame body."

"So that means it could hatch soon?" I asked.

"It means it will hatch any second. These eggs have been near Magmar for two whole days now. Blame the first thing I want that Growlithe to see is you."

No sooner did Dad say that then the egg Magmar was holding almost jumped out of his hands. Magmar placed it on the ground in front of me and sat back down on the hot coals in the pit.

The egg moved some more and began to rock back and forth. The egg chipped and cracked before standing still. I began to worry as it stood but, suddenly it burst into a beautiful white flame that melted the rest of the egg, leaving a small Growlithe in the melted puddle.

The thing was that the aw sound people make when they see a baby Pokémon was replaced by gasps. As the Growlithe opened his eyes, all I could focus on was the gold coat that seemed to reflect the sun. It had a shiny coat!

The Growlithe had now fully opened his eyes and they focused on me. I locked eyes with him and he walked towards me. He put his two front paws on my legs and gave me an affectionate "Growithe!". I picked him up and he began to lick me and the feelings I had couldn't be contained any longer as I began to laugh as he licked me. I fell backwards to the soft grass and laughed and cried tears of joy as the Growlithe continued to lick me all over.

"Arcanine!" the new mother barked and the little one's head snapped to the direction and ran over to his mother, leaving me in the grass.

My dad walked over and helped me up then spoke, "For a second he thought you were his mom, but now understands that Arcanine is his mom."

I felt a little sad as the two new parents licked him all over and learned the new smell of their new pup. "Don't feel sad though," my dad said as if reading my thoughts, "He knows who you are and he already has a deep connection with you."

I smiled and we all sat down and watched the parents greet their new son. After a few minutes my dad gave an order to Arcanine. "Arcanine, it's time to let the little one go."

The poor new father seemed a little sad yet happy his new pup already had a trainer that would watch him and protect him. The father led the pup back to me and talked with him. Words we didn't understand was being passed from father to son and the pup tossed his head to me and walked over to me.

I gave my dad a look and he nodded his head and reached into his pocket. "Blame, I have been saving this pokéball for a special occasion and I feel that you should have it." He placed a pokéball that had the colors reversed on it. "It's called a premier ball, now you know what to do from here."

Taking the ball I showed it to the Growlithe standing only a few inches from me. "This is called a pokéball, I mean, a premier ball. I don't know how much you understand already, but if you choose to, you can travel with me as my partner. You would become mine and we would travel all over the region becoming strong and seeing and learning many new things. What do you say, partner?"

The Growlithe gave his father a single look before pressing his nose onto the ball. The ball popped open and the Growlithe disappeared into the ball, becoming my Growlithe. I exploded up and yelled yes as loud as I could!

"Congratulations Blame" my mom yelled as she hugged me.

My dad joined in and added "Your first Pokémon. I know you will become a great trainer." The hug broke up and my mom turned around as she tried to hide that she was crying. My dad saw this and decided to try and lighten the mood. "Blame, you remember the story I told you about why you're named Blame?" I nodded my head and he told me it again anyway, "We decided on Blame because I knew you had a flame inside of you from the moment I saw you. I wanted to name you Flame, but your mother wanted to call you Brain," He chuckled as my mom took his arm. "Of course we compromised."

"I'm glad because Blame is so much cooler than Brain," I confessed.

"Well, let your Growlithe out and say his goodbyes. Pokemon have as much feelings as humans do," dad said.

I threw my new Pokémon's ball into the air screaming "Growlithe, come on out!" Growlithe landed with a small thud and was greeted again by both parents. They congratulated each other and tails waged as they seemed to become deep in conservation. So I turned to my parents and hugged them one last time. "Mom, Dad, I'm ready. I'm ready to see the region. I'm ready to travel. I'm ready to see what destiny has in store for me."

"Already, honey?" mom asked frantic that she was just about to lose her son.

"Sidney, it's ok. He knows everything from school. He is already a very smart boy and he is sixteen. I think it's time for us to let him go," dad sighed

"But I made dinner for three, Blaine."

"It's ok. I'll have seconds."

My mom signed and gave me one more hug. "Blame you be careful, ok?"

"Don't worry mom, I got my new partner with me," I said and at the mention of him, Growlithe walked over and laid at my feet, looking up to us.

"She smiled and looked at Growlithe and gave him a look and said "You're the one that can breathe fire. You protect my boy."

"Growlithe!" he answered, wagging his tail.

With a final smile she looked up at me and said "Your father knew you were going to leave today so I had this prepared for you," She walked back to the lab doors and grabbed a bag. She brought it back to me "It has everything you need to get started. Food for two weeks, a map, and also a new Xtransceiver."

"Stuff for your Pokémon too," Dad added, "Also one thousand five hundred Poké."

"Wow that's a lot of money" I gasped.

"We will keep sending you some, but don't feel afraid to win some of your own," he said with a grin.

"Well that's it," I said eagerly, "I'm ready to go!" and the four of us walked back to the lab and to the Pokémon center all together.

My mom and dad waved as I walked into the sunset with Growlithe on my heels. The last thing I heard them yell before crossing into route 19 was "I love you! Good luck!"


	2. Ch 2

-Ch. 2 This Road We Travel-

Walking down route felt totally different then the millions of other times I had done it from the many times I have walked down here with my dad. Maybe it was because I was alone. No. I'm not alone. I got Growlithe with me and I turned around to see him taking in the new surrounds as much as I am. I forgot for a second that this was his first time here in the forest.

I spotted a rock and sat down on it and call Growlithe over to it. He padded over to me and sat down next to me. I couldn't help but take in his very shiny coat. It was still a wonder that the orange coat he was supposed to have been replaced by a gold coat.

I had to take this moment I had to do what I had already forgotten to do and see what moves Growlithe knows. Pulling out the Xtransceiver, I started it up and had Growlithe put his paw on it and it registered him as my Pokémon. My dad had added his own feature which I knew he would since he likes to spread word of his theories. I pointed the small circle on the side to Growlithe and it began to scan him. It finished a moment later and it popped up showing that he was already an estimated level five and knew bite and roar.

"Well now that we have had a small rest and now I know more about you, I guess we can continue to Floccesy town" I said.

"Growlithe" he answered, eager to get back onto the road as he paced ahead of me.

I was right behind him as we walked the dirt trail. Growlithe trailed off to smell something and I wait for a second to see what he smelled when a Purrloin suddenly tackled Growlithe. The surprised had shocked me as much as it did Growlithe.

"Growlithe, are you ok?!" I called out to him.

"Grow" he growled back and turned to face his attacker.

The Purrloin was not gracious enough to let us have a second before it tackled Growlithe again. I had had enough of that and yelled out to Growlithe who was picking himself up again "Growlithe, it's time to strike back. Use bite!"

The foe wasn't far away and Growlithe went right for the leg of the devious Pokémon and bit hard before tossing it back. It cried out in pain as it landed and that attracted two more Purrlion to come and help. Now it was three on one and began to close in on Growlithe. Growlithe held his ground and waited for me to give an order, which I did not disappoint him on.

"Growlithe use roar!" Growlithe let out a roar that was ten times deeper and scarier than his normal cute voice. This had cause the first Purrloin that attacked to run in fear. One ran up to try and use a tackle but missed as Growlithe ran around and bit hard on the tail of the Purrloin and tossed this one into a nearby tree. The Pokémon fainted on impact. Now it was one on one by it had the next move as it ran up to Growlithe and landed a critical hit on him.

"Growlithe!" I cried out and started to rummage through my bag till I found a potion. "Growlithe, quickly, run over here." Growlithe ran over with the Purrloin on his heels and I sprayed him as he ran past me. I knew he felt the relief as he started to run fasted to get the Pokémon away from me. To my horror, I turned around and saw the Purrloin come straight for me and tackled me to the ground. It took the rest of the potion before chasing after Growlithe.

I grabbed my head and I got up and looked at Growlithe, giving him a nod that I was ok. He didn't look happy that had happened and stopped running and turned to the enemy. He turned and let out a small white flame right at the Purrloin. It was very strong and it fainted on the spot from the white flame.

"Wow Growlithe you learned ember" I exclaimed, "and it was white too. You shot a white ember attack!" I was at a loss of words on how to describe a gold Growlithe breathing white fire, but it was put at the back of my mind as Growlithe trotted up to me to make sure I was ok. "Hey don't worry about me. You're the one that was doing all the fighting," I said as he climbed into my lap and began to lick where my head hit the ground.

I pulled out one more potion and sprayed him to make sure he was fine the stood up and began to walk. We were more careful about where we stepped and for the few Pokémon that did jump us; we made sure to scare them away with roar. That move became very handy to us.

"You know Growlithe," I started as he padded beside me "That was the first time a Pokémon has ever jumped me while walking down this route. I been here many times with my dad, but he always had one of his Pokémon out. I guess Pokémon never attacked because of how strong they looked."

"Gr" he answered inquisitively.

"Yeah, and your dad too. You know I hope one day we can walk back home and no Pokémon will attack because of how strong you look."

"Grow!" he barked.

"Yeah, you could be as strong as or even stronger than your dad!"

"Growlithe!" he answered excitedly with his tail wagging. I guess he wanted to be just like his dad or even strong then him to make him proud, same as me.

The sun started to set and somewhere in the glooming darkness we had gone off trail. We had several Pokémon jump us and each one after each Growlithe took them out with a combo we quickly developed.

"Growlithe use bite then follow up with ember" I yelled. Growlithe tossed the Pokémon back then nailed it with another white ember. The wild Patrat didn't stand a chance and fainted before it could even attack. Growlithe was doing great but, it was becoming too much as we got more and more lost. We started to go out of our way to dodge a battle; not always able to dodge the battle. Roar helped less and less and Growlithe was growing tired. I couldn't give him a break because I had no other Pokémon with me. I felt bad and picked him up and I traveled as far as I could go.

The sun had set and I was growing tired as I kept walking. "Growlithe," he barked, warning me of the river I was about to step in. I didn't even hear it, I was so tired.

"Okay Growlithe I think that's a good enough reason to rest here. I think we both need to sleep." Growlithe nodded and I set him down. I set up a tent and Growlithe brought me over some sticks. "Thanks," I said as I stacked them up, "Growlithe, do you mind to use ember one more time today?"

"Gro," and he let a small ember hit the sticks and the white fire blended to red as the sticks started to burn.

"You know Growlithe that you are really special. "Not only to me, but in general." He tilted his head and I continued to try and explain it. "Okay did you notice that your parents were orange? Well that's normal for them to look, but you are gold and a normal Growlithe would breathe orange flames, in fact any fire type breathes orange fire, but you breathe white fire. You understand?"

"Growlithe" he answered with a tone of sudden knowledge.

"Well I want you to know that means you may become a target for bad people because of how special you are. That's why I want you to be strong so you can defend yourself."

Growlithe understood this and walked over and laid in my lap and quickly dozed off. I could feel the warmth he had and it was like having a breathing heat blanket. I began to stroke his back as I watched the tree line. I felt a uneasiness, but told myself that it was because this was my first night on my own. I laid down, but the feeling didn't go away. It made sleeping hard and instead I looked at the stars as sleep took its grip and I fell asleep.

"Growlithe!" He barked right into my ear and it scared me awake, but in the pitch dark I saw something that scared me even more. Five Patrats had surrounded us and looked like they were a high level.

"Growlithe light the fire. We need to see" I quickly said. When the fire was lit I took in what I thought I saw. The five of them closed in. "Growlithe, wait for it. Let one of them charge first and dodge it then toss them back with bite."

"Gro" he growled.

"Patrat" one screamed and charged right for Growlithe. He was too fast and still hit him. Growlithe still managed to land bite, but was tackled off by the second one. Growlithe use ember on him. The white flame hit hard and it fainted one but Growlithe was tired and weary. He couldn't stop the other as they both used bite on him.

"Growlithe" I yelled and ran over and picked him up from the ground. He had been tossed over after the pokémon both attacked him. I rummaged through my bag as I ran, but was out of potions. Growlithe couldn't keep this up and I had to keep running. To my horror I reached the river again. It traveled fast and I knew I couldn't jump it. I turned and the four remaining Patrats had us cornered. "Okay Growlithe, i'm going to put you back in your ball then toss it to the other side of the river. I'll get it after I go for a swim."

His eye widened in horror and shook his head, but I got his ball from my belt and returned him to it. I was ready to throw it, but was stopped by a voice.

"Mareep use thundershock. Stoutland use take down!" and no sooner than said, a bright flash came in and fainted two of them and a huge Stoutland came and took the other two out with one attack.

The wild Patrats had fainted and I was safe, to my relief. I called out to whoever was out there and a middle aged man wearing a red bandana and green overalls appeared.

"Thank you very much. I was just about to jump for it," I said while shaking his hand.

"Well you are very welcome. I thought I saw a fire in the distance and came with my Pokémon to check it out. I'm glad I did come because you would have washed away," the man greeted, "What are you doing back here? You should come back to my ranch and rest up."

"I would love to. My partner and I really need a break from the wild, too many crazy Pokémon out here."

He chuckled and led the way through the twisting trees until we came to the ranch. Mareep went his own way back to the rest of the sleeping Mareep and the Stoutland led us back to the house before going back out to the deck to curl up with the other Stoutland I saw. Inside of the house, it smelled like homemade bread and pasta too. My stomach growled and the women wearing a green sundress with flowers on it and wearing a green visor greeted us as we entered.

"Hon who's this you have with you?" she asked as we entered.

"Darling, this is Blame. The Pokémon have been giving him a hard time and pushed him to the limit. He was ready to jump into the river to make sure his poor Pokémon didn't have to battle anymore" the man said as he hugged his wife.

"You poor thing. Would you like to eat with us then? I don't think you could make anything like what I have made in the woods."

"I would love to eat with you ma'am. I wasn't able to make anything because we were on a constant watch. Do you have anything for my Pokémon?" I asked, "He has been fighting all day and is very tired."

"Of course I do. I run this ranch you know," she said as she opened a closet door and took out a jar of milk. "Here you go. It's some moo milk. It may taste good to us, but to Pokémon, it helps to heal them."

She handed it to me and I pulled out Growlithe's pokéball and popped him out. Growlithe came out ready to attack again, but was confused to see we weren't in the forest anymore.

"It's ok Growlithe. Right before I jumped this man saved me and brought us back to his house. They gave me this and I was told this would help you heal after all that battling." I turned to the lady, "Ma'am do you have a bowl for him?"

"Yes I do. Please wait a second" and she gave her husband a look before walking into the kitchen.

I was inspecting Growlithe as the man walked over and bent down next to me. "It's ok son, he looks like a fighter. I don't think those weak wild Pokémon did much to him." He scanned Growlithe over before addressing me again. "This is a very special Growlithe you have here."

I know sir, he is very special to me, but not for the same reason your thinking of. He is my first Pokémon and I know one day we will walk as the toughest team in this region. No one will challenge us because they will know how strong we are and be intimidated by the flame in my heart and the flame from Growlithe's breath."

"Grow" Growlithe said in agreement. He wagged his tail and let me pet him until the women came back and handed a bowl to me. I poured the milk into the bowl and got up as Growlithe began to lap it up.

"Why don't you come and eat too. You need the energy as much as he does" the woman said.

"Yea your right" and I followed them to a table and was greeted by some very tasty red sauce topped pasta and started eating it up.

"So his Pokémon is…" the old woman started.

"Yes he is, but this trainer here doesn't care one bit about that. All he cares about is that together they will do much" the old man said with a smile on his face.

I looked up from eating and asked "Why do you to look so worried about how I treat Growlithe? I will take very good care of him."

"We know son, it's just that because he's what we call a shiny Pokémon that we worry. Trainers go out of their way to get one of these Pokémon when they see one because they are so rare. They treat them wrong in many different ways because of how they look. Either like a gold statue or a tool of fear so can you understand when I ask how you got this shiny Growlithe?"

So in confidence, I recited the events from school to getting lost in the forest. I told them what made me pick his egg and how he was my first Pokémon I could call mine. Not much of a story because it only happened earlier that day and this was my first night on my own, but it was the begging and everyone has to start somewhere.

When I finished the two old ones pondered over what I had said before the man said "Well you may only be sixteen, but I bet because of your dad, you know more about Pokémon and the way they work then most Pokémon trainers that start. I'm glad that Growlithe came into your care. You may stay the night and be on your way in the morning. It is getting late and you have already cleaned your plate." I agreed and let them lead me up the steps of their huge wood house to a bedroom and I came in with Growlithe behind me to a small bed and dresser and bathroom to the left. He handed me my bag and said goodnight then closed the door.

I found my mom packed me a pair of sleep wear and I slipped on the sweat shorts and t-shirt and jumped into bed. Growlithe jumped in and curled up next to me. For the first time in my life I was away from home, but I didn't feel lonely like I thought I would have when I was first dreaming of traveling. I put an arm around the golden fur ball and felt the warmth he had. The heat felt so nice that I fell right to sleep.

I woke up and found that Growlithe was gone. It was daylight and I decided to go find where he was and found that my clothes had been cleaned. I put the black baggy jeans back on and put my red jacket over my white shirt. I left unzipped because that was how I liked it. It was a red design with two black stripes on the right side and the badge of my dad's Pokémon gym in gold on top of the stripes wear my heart is supposed to be. Finally I reached for my hat that my dad gave to me years ago. It was a plain black hat but what made it special was that it had a design of a Arcanine running through flames in red on the left side of it.

My dad made it because when I was small I talked a lot about how much I liked the Pokémon Arcanine and how he looked like a living legend. I put the hat on so that it kept my long brown hair out of my face and I pushed the hair behind me so it curled up a little in the back. Now I tied my simple brown shoes and ran out the door to find where Growlithe had gone.

The woman greeted in the kitchen and told me everything was fine. He was outside playing with their Stoutlands because she had woke him up when she came in to clean my clothes. She laid a plate of pancakes in front of me and I just couldn't resist. I sat down and began eating them.

I was done and helping to clean the dishes when Growlithe's howl made me run out of the door as fast as I could. Growlithe greeted me at the door step.

"What's wrong Growlithe" I said in a panic.

"Grow" he barked and began to run. I followed him to a shack behind the house and the old man was there with his two Stoutlands sniffing all over.

"What happened?" I asked.

"Oh good you are here. I asked your Growlithe to come and get you because you two could help me with a problem I have. You see every so often, a Pokémon breaks into this shack and steals all the berries we have stored away for the Pokémon to eat. Well today the thief was clumsy and left a strong enough sent for my Stoutlands to track. Would you like to help me track down the berries and find out who this thief is?"

I looked at Growlithe and he shook his head and wagged his tail with much excitement. "Yea, we would like to help," and together we let the Stoutlands track this Pokémon through the ranch and to the edge of the ranch that blended into forest.

"Stoutland!" they both barked very loudly at a tree with a large enough hole for a small Pokémon to fit through.

"Stoutland, both of you use take down!" the man yelled and the combined power of the Stoutlands shook the tree hard and we heard a constant thumps until all the barriers had fallen to the bottom and out of the hole. "Well looks like someone else wants to store these berries for them self. I guess there's no Pokémon so let's go back."

No sooner did he say that then a blue blur came and struck one of the Stoutlands on their side, knocking it over. I turned around to see that same attack come straight from the other Stoutland but the old man was ready. He let his Pokémon take the hit, but it seemed to do very little damage and the blue blur was suddenly caught in his crunch attack. Stoutland then took the chance to retaliate for hitting his mate and threw the Pokémon into the tree.

"Riolu" it cried out in pain. The attack had done major damage and it was barely hanging on. It slid to ground and then it began to try and pull itself back up. I was amazed that the little guy could even stay up after that move. It looked as if it was only level seven or eight compared to the Stoutland that was at least level forty.

"So you're the thief," the old man hissed, "Just how is he standing after that attack?"

"He's a fighting type," I interrupted. "Crunch has a dark type attribute to it and that was the reason it didn't hit at full power, but even that is still very strong compared to the small level Riolu over there. He's awake by sheer will." The man seemed impressed by my knowledge, but I had already thought of something else. "I'm going to catch him!"

"Well if you wish too," the man said, "He must be strong to able to take a hit like that."

"Growlithe, you ready" I asked.

"Growlithe!" he barked and stepped in front of the two growling Stoutlands.

I looked over to the Riolu and called out to him. "Riolu I want you to join my team, but it won't be fair that I already have an advantage over you so here," and I reached into my bad and pulled out a sitrus berry and threw it over to him. "If you accept my challenge, you will battle my partner Growlithe and I." He weakly picked up the berry and looked hesitant about it so I decided I would add something. "Either you battle me and Growlithe or the two big Stoutlands behind him."

The Riolu didn't think about it for another second and ate the berry. After a second he jumped back up and started to run. "Hey!" I yelled. "We have a challenge, Growlithe after him!" Growlithe, being much faster than me, started running after him. I cut through the ranch, leaving the man in the dust to find Growlithe had cornered him on the very far side of the ranch. He although had just hit Growlithe with quick attack and was about to run away when I yelled for Growlithe to use ember in front of him. White flames burst out in front of the running Riolu and scared him backwards.

"Now Growlithe use bite to subdue him and hit with one more ember" I called as I got to where they were. Growlithe bit his leg and tossed him over to a rock and jumped on top of him and hit him with another ember right in the face. The attack left the Riolu almost unconscious as Growlithe jumped off him.

"Good job Growlithe" I called out and opened my bag find a ball. I found a pile of pokéballs, but something I found made me stop. I pulled out a great ball from the very bottom of the bag. "This fits him just right," and threw it right at Riolu. He disappeared into the ball and it began to wiggle. What seemed like hours passed in three seconds and finally it stopped moving, catching the Riolu inside.

"I did it," I said shocked as I picked up the ball. "He's mine. I caught my very first Pokémon!" I held the ball up and the man found me and saw the now occupied great ball. "I caught him," I bragged to the old man.

"Well i'm glad that tough Pokémon has a trainer that will train him well," the man said with a smile.

Together we all walked back to the house and I told the woman all about it. She was surprised and crazed that I had caught their thief. Outside with the two old folks I called out Riolu. He came out of his ball and gave me a look. I walked over to him and crouched in front of him.

"Riolu, I know we just met, but I want you to know something about me. I know that you can sense aura even though you're not able to fully understand it. What do you feel when your near me because I can tell you. It's a trainer that caring and nice; one that will always be here to take care of you. I promise I will always help you. I will give you a better life then stealing berries and train you to become the best Riolu there ever was. Do you trust me?"

He took in everything I said and then looked at Growlithe as if he needed confirmation it was true and Growlithe padded over and put a single paw on me and nodded his head. The Riolu looked at me and then jumped right for me with his arms wide open and hugged me.

"Aw," the old couple said.

"I guess he does trust you and believes everything you said," the woman added, "This is so touching! It warms my old heart."

Riolu gave his apology for stealing and the woman gave me many ingredients to make many meals for me and many berries for my Pokémon. The man told me I had somehow missed Floccesy town and I was stumped how I even did. They walked me down to the exit of their ranch and pointed me to the next city, Virbank City.

Not having the slightest clue how we missed Floccesy town, I made sure we would stay on the trail this time. I knew Pokémon might attack again like last time, but felt ready this time because not only did Growlithe get stronger, but now I have a strong Riolu too. It would be different and was glad I met that old couple. Now it was time to take the road ahead to Virbank City.


	3. Ch 3

-Ch 3 First of Many-

I had been walking for what seemed like forever. Route twenty was full of Pokémon and trainers too. I had gotten into several battles in one day and both of my Pokémon are tired. We had slept outside for two nights now and each time I had set up a camp on the edge of the forest because Riolu wanted to sleep in a tree. Growlithe preferred to sleep next to me on my air mattress which packed nicely into my bag after each use. I was glad I had it since I lost my tent in the woods.

It was now the third night since I left home and I already felt so much older and wiser. The thought made me chuckle a little as I cooked a can of beans over the fire. I still have no idea what I'm doing. I'm just learning day by day. I knew one thing though; I had two Pokémon that were already around level twelve and each of them was very strong.

I looked up to the tree and called out to Riolu if he wanted any and instead of a response, he jumped down and took another berry before climbing back up. I got Riolu to trust me as a trainer and partner, but beyond that he didn't want to connect on a more personal level. I guess he has to warm up to me.

So I turned my attention to Growlithe. He had to fight a trainer with a very annoying Patrat. I wasn't able to pass the bridge until I beat him. Riolu was tired from a previous Pokémon battle, in retrospect Riolu would have been a better choice but Growlithe handled it fine. It just using tackle as if it was the only move it knew and that got to me. I didn't even want to fight the ten year old, but he forced me to and he didn't know anything about battling.

Growlithe was resting in the middle of the campfire and was in a deep sleep. I let him stay and continued to eat my baked beans. Tomorrow we would finally make it to Virbank City, the home of the first official gym and first on my list of gyms to beat. The though raced in my head more as I finished my beans and laid on my air mattress. I began to worry if I was ready and slowly, I slipped into sleep myself.

Riolu woke me up and hurried me to pack my stuff. He was more impatient then normal while he waited for me to pack. I didn't know what had him so stirred up, but I soon found out as the city came into view. All I had to do was climb some stairs and it was a straight path to the city. I was so excited that I began to run all the way there and of course my two fast Pokémon ran ahead of me to the entrance of the city.

I noticed a bit of a rivalry was developing between the two as they tried to out run each other to the tunnel. Growlithe boasted his win as I approached the tunnel to the city that they waited at. Entering the tunnel, I stopped to stare at the board sharing news, but nothing seemed important.

"Hey you!" the man at the counter called out. I looked around and then pointed at myself. "Yes you, can you come over here."

"What is it?" I asked, hopping I wasn't in trouble.

"I haven't seen you around so you must be new here. I want you to hear a few rules that this city has. The first is that the law will be enforced no matter what and if your Pokémon cause any kind of trouble, they will be fainted and deported out of the city. The second is that you don't mess with the law because your Pokémon will be taken and you will be placed into custody of an officer. The third and final rule is that the only battles that take place inside the city is in the secure gym that was made for pokémon battles."

"Yea I got it. I won't cause any trouble," and I turned to enter the city. "Jerk," I said under my breath. It's not like I'm a part of team plasma, but all that vanished as I entered the city.

The city was very big with many homes and apartment complexes. Its water system connected to the ocean and it had its own salt water river flow under the hug city. Many people lived here and it was a busy city because of Pokestar studios, but I wasn't interested in making a movie. I wanted a gym battle.

As I exited the tunnel, the first thing I noticed was that the Pokémon center was huge. It must be one of those hotel type Pokémon centers. I decided that would be the first stop. I passed many people and some stopped me to ask about the gold Growlithe behind me. Each time I had to tell the same story and it was getting old. Growlithe didn't seem to like all the attention and afterwards I asked if he wanted to return to his pokéball and I would bring him out when it was less annoying for him. He agreed and I returned him. Riolu did not want to stay in his ball because he wanted to see the city.

I entered the center and requested that my Pokémon be healed. As I waited I saw that people began to crowd the front of the building near the doors and I wanted to see what was up. I pushed my way through and saw a lady with white hair and crazy rocker clothes and a guitar slung over her shoulder was signing autographs.

"Who is that?" I asked to the person nearest to me.

"Her name is Roxie and she is the most popular Rock star around. She is also the gym leader of this city," the man said before leaving to try and get an autograph. She made her way to the nurse and asked if she could get her Pokémon healed. The people began to go crazy as they asked why she needed her Pokémon to be healed and it got so crazy that the nurse asked everyone that didn't need care to leave the building.

Soon the building was quite again and it was me with the gym leader. I sat on the side of the couch and waited for my Pokémon. She laid her guitar right next me and sat down.

"So are you new here?" she asked.

"What makes you ask that?" I countered.

"Well you're not asking for an autograph or over reacting about me being here. So you either don't like me or you're not from here," she said with a smile on her face.

"Well yes I'm not from here. I'm from Aspertia city. I'm a Pokémon trainer and my name is Blame."

"Wow so are you here to challenge me then?"

"That's the plan. I hope to challenge and beat you," I said with confidence.

"Wow first time in a while. Well this must be my lucky day because not only am I visited by another gym leader, but also a trainer."

"So is that why you are in the center?"

"Yes, he visiting all of the gyms to see how they are doing and he gave me a gold star." She laughed as she pointed at it on her guitar then said "he beat me, but it was a good battle. Well I will head back down to the gym and wait for you."

As she said it, a nurse came over and handed her Pokémon back and then my came back to me. I made my way out of the center and a mob of people followed her back to her gym. I walked south and took in the sights and the water system below fascinated me. I pulled out a small camera and took pictures. I came across a large complex and walked through the houses and it turned into a electrical plant. It was what gave the city its light.

I came to a small patch of grass and looked out to the ocean. I thought about letting my Pokémon out to look at it when a voice called out to me.

"Who are you?"

I turned and said blame and the guy laughed at me. "Blame?! Well I don't blame you for being here, but this is my training area. Leave now before I blame you for it and have to force you out."

The guy wore blue jeans and blue jacket with the sleeves pulled up. He had a hat black hat on backwards with the word "Champ" written on the side of it.

"Oh yeah, how are you going to force me out of here?" I said angrily as I pulled out Riolu's great ball.

"Like this!" he yelled and pulled out his own ball and threw it into the air and a Buizel came out.

If it's a battle you want, it is a battle you will get!" and I threw out Riolu. Riolu looked fully aware of its water type so I didn't remind him.

He laughed again. "What a weak Pokémon. It look likes like it can barley take a hit. This will be a easy win for me."

This enraged Riolu and a before I could even tell him what to do, he used quick attack on the Buizel. "Hey, wait for me to tell you what to do!" I said as he returned in front of me, but whispered "good hit. He had that coming, now let's show this jerk how good you are," Riolu nodded and turned back to face the Buizel that stood back up.

"What a cheap hit. Show him how to really fight and use sonicboom!" Buizel clapped his paws together and a rush of hyper air knocked Riolu off his feet. "Now use quick attack," and Buizel came in and hit Riolu hard while he was still on the ground.

"You call me out for a cheap hit, but then you do that." I made sure he was ok after a strong hit like that then called out the next attack. "Riolu use quick attack again." And he quickly ran towards the enemy.

"Buizel use Quick attack too!" Buizel closed in on Riolu and that's what I wanted.

"Now use counter" I yelled at Riolu. Riolu put on the brakes and watched as Buizel came very close then right as he was about to strike with his paw, Riolu grabbed it and flipped him over to the ground and the power of his attack was doubled and returned to the Buizel. Then Riolu flung Buizel back over to his trainer.

"Ah Buizel are you ok?" he gasped as he looked at his Pokémon.

"Bui" he responded weakly as he stood back up.

"Give up now. He's already very tired and you're pushing him too far," I yelled.

"I will end this fight," he yelled and called for another quick attack.

Suddenly a Braviary swooped in and landed in the middle of both of our Pokémon. It stopped the quick attack and used whirlwind on both Pokémon, blowing them right back to their trainers.

"No, I will end this fight!" and I looked at a officer that was now standing next to the Braviary. He had the normal police uniform and flashed his gold badge to us before continuing. "You hot heads could have caused a lot of damage. You realize this plant is what makes all of the electricity in this city." He looked at me then at the other guy and shook his head. "Are you picking fights again Mark?" and stopped him before he could talk and looked at me. "You new hear I take it?"

"Yes sir, I was just minding my business when he started making fun of me then threatened me. It was self defense I swear," I said as I recalled Riolu. I started to panic as those rules recited in my head. I did not want to lose my Pokémon.

He must have known this was what I was thinking because he calmed me. "Take it easy son; I'm not going to take your Pokémon. Mark here is my brother and causes trouble a lot. Your right in saying it was in self defense and I will let you go."

"Thank you officer," and quickly walked away. I could hear the officer yelling at his younger brother in the distance, but I did not stop until I got back to the Pokémon center. Once again I had the nurse take Riolu to heal him.

As I waited I thought of how it was a short two moves and already that Buizel was about to faint. My Pokémon had grown strong on route twenty and I felt like it was time to face the gym leader. I looked up and on the side of the door I saw a poster with a picture of the gym on it. I walked over to it and read the print on the side.

"For the first time in three months, watch as the rock start Roxie as she takes on a challenger. Come tonight at six and watch the epic show then stick around for the battle!

Well now I guess I didn't have a choice. People were coming to watch me battle her. People were coming to watch. I was going to have people come and watch me battle Roxie in a battle. I have never had an audience watch me and it made me nervous, but I have to do it.

When I received Riolu, I walked down a small flight of stairs and called out both of my Pokémon near the river of salt water.

"Ok guys, we are going to have our first gym battle. This means for the first time we will battle a trainer that is actually strong. You guys understand this?"

"Grow!"

"Ri."

"Good, now then let's go over the few combos again that we devised throughout our battling in route twenty and make sure you guys have them memorized."

I sat there with them for a solid hour and talked and formulated some ways to make sure she wasn't ready for each combo. Growlithe and Riolu both listened very well and asked a question when they needed and offered their own input. Time flew by and I looked down at my Xtransceiver and realized that the show was about to end and the battle was about to begin. I returned them to their ball and began to run.

I found a small entrance with a huge neon sign of Unova gym sign on top of the entrance. I climbed down a long flight of stairs until I reached the bottom. A man told me I was late and rushed me to the back of the stage. He told me that she was a poison trainer and used two Pokémon for my skill level, which was determined by how many badges I had. He led me to a curtain and said good luck as he rushed away from it.

The booming sound of the guitar ended and Roxie's voice rang above the cheering. "Thank you all, now it's time for the main event. He comes from Aspertia city and has a passion to win. Will he?" she paused to let the crowd cheer some more then continued. "Well let's find out. Give it up for Blame!"

The curtain opened and suddenly I took in all the people that had come. It seemed like half the city was here and my heart dropped to my stomach. I walked out to the middle of the stage and shook hands with Roxie.

She noticed my nervousness and gave me a tip. "Focus on your Pokémon and you will forget the crowd. It's not a problem for the Pokémon so keep your attention on them," the she took the mic and talked into it again. "Now I will have an official Unova judge come onto the middle of the stage and start the battle.

The judge came onto the middle of the stage and we went to opposite sides of the stage. All the equipment had been cleared and only we remained on it. The judge took the mic and said "As the city gym leader, Roxie you will send out your first Pokémon. The rule is a one vs one and both trainers will fight until all Pokémon can't continue to fight. Now Roxie send, out you first Pokémon."

The crowd grew quiet and Roxie took a pokéball off of her guitar and slung it into the air. "Go Koffing!" Koffing landed in the battle field and people cheered and the Koffing seemed to enjoy it as he smiled big and spun in the air.

"Now Blame, choose your Pokémon to fight Koffing" the judge said.

I didn't need to second guess myself the second I decided which Pokémon to use. This Pokémon floated and while Growlithe would be a good choice, Riolu was better at jumping into the air. I took his ball from my belt and yelled "I choose Riolu!" Again the crowd cheered as Riolu landed on the stage. He took in the many people and looked back at me. He seemed to focus on me and I gave him reassurance that it would be ok. He faced his opponent and focused on him.

One more time the judge said "the stage is set, the time is right. Let the battle begin!"

Roxie smiled and took the first move "Koffing use assurance."

Koffing charged at Riolu and hit head on but the move was weak because of its dark type and I used this to my advantage and yelled "Riolu use feint!" Riolu jumped up into the air and slammed his glowing white fist on koffing, sending him to the ground. Now the combo part came into play and Riolu didn't need to wait as he landed and used quick attack before the koffing could recover from the first move.

Koffing was sent back hard but caught himself and was right back in the battle. "That was a impressive combo Blame, but now it's our turn. Koffing use smog!" and soon a cloud of purple smoke surrounded the field and I held my breath as I tried to find Riolu.

Suddenly I saw Riolu fly out of the smoke into the air and land hard in front of me. "You ok Riolu?" I asked as he stood up.

"Ri" he said and sounded very annoyed of this smoke. He had to because it was very hard to see in it and somewhere in it was a Pokémon that was very used to it.

"I have an idea. Use foresight and once you find him, keep him locked in with your aura senses. Use that to know where he is."

Riolu looked surprised at this new found way to use his given abilities and closed his eyes and focused foresight and combined it with his aura senses. He looked up and confirmed he had a lock on where Koffing was. I nodded and said "Alright Riolu use quick attack as fast as you can!"

Riolu sped right into the cloud of smoke. Suddenly he jumped into the air, above the smoke and did a flip before using the speed and power of quick attack to land right on Koffing. The shockwave caused the rest of the smoke to dissipate and everyone saw Riolu standing on top of the weak, but awake, Koffing. Before Roxie could do anything, Riolu jumped off and put his paw on Koffing. A strong force exploded from his paw and sent Koffing flying backwards. Riolu had learned force palm!

The judge looked at Koffing as Roxie bent over to check him and announced "Koffing is no long able to battle. The winner is Blame's Riolu!" The crowd cheered and I ran over and hugged Riolu then lifted him on to my shoulders and ran in a small circle before returning to where I was supposed to stand.

"You did amazing Riolu. Return and rest," and he disappeared back into his ball. Now she had only one Pokémon left. I decided it would be better for Growlithe to have his turn and not have to push Riolu more than he already has.

"That was impressive. I didn't think it would be over that fast," Roxie said. "Now, it is time for the main show," and she threw another pokéball into the air. "Let's rock and roll, Whirlipede!"

The Pokémon landed and the first thing I could think of was that it looked like a big tire. In any case it was still a Pokémon and I had to battle it. I took out the premier ball and threw it into the air and as I expected, the crowd gasp as the gold Growlithe landed in front of me. His coat seemed to shine with readiness and it reflected the light from the over head, making his coat really shine bright.

Growlithe took in the large crowd and then almost forgot about them as he turned to his opponent. Growlithe growled and prepared for the first command.

"It is Growlithe vs Whirlipede. Let the second battle begin" the Judge said with the toss of his hand into the air.

"Whirlipede use pursuit!" Roxie shouted and Whirlipede was cloaked in a black aura before rolling very fast towards Growlithe. He came head on and with surprising agility, came around and hit Growlithe from behind after he jumped out of the way.

Growlithe landed on his four paws and I yelled "Growlthe use ember!" White fire burst from his mouth and went straight for her Pokémon. Being a bug type, I knew this would be a easy win for Growlithe.

"Whirlipede use protect!" Roxie shouted.

"Wait, What?!" I gasped. I didn't know that tire could learn protect.

The white fire exploded on impact, but as it cleared, the Whirlipede stood strong and didn't take the hit. The blue shield faded away and rolled straight for Growlithe, using poison sting on him. The tip from one of those spikes on the Pokémon scraped across Growlithe and the effects became immediate. I could tell the tiny scratch had poisoned him and now he was slowing down. I had to do something fast.

I pulled out his pokéball and pointed it at him.

"Growlithe" he barked angrily at me. He shook his head and turned back to his opponent. He would not let me bring out Riolu even though every instinct I had told me to switch to Riolu.

I took a breath and I guess I just had to trust Growlithe. "Alright then, I trust you. Growlithe use Ember one more time."

"Whirlipede use protect again," Roxie sung.

"Growlithe, jump through it and use bite" I retaliated.

Whirlipede couldn't hold protect long and it faded right after the explosion of ember. Growlithe jumped straight through the disappearing flames and bit hard on the spike that had poisoned him.

"This is our chance," Roxie shouted, "Use Venoshock!"

"Oh no," I gasped and watched as the move that doubles in power if the target is already poisoned affect Growlithe. The spike Growlithe bit turned a deep, dark purple and it spread to Growlithe causing pain throughout his entire body like a shockwave. Whirlipede tossed Growlithe off his spike and I couldn't do it anymore. I returned Growlithe back to his ball before anything else could happen.

"Looks like this really is your first real gym battle. You got to expect surprises Blame," Roxie gloated.

I never thought that rolling turd could learn such a powerful move at such a low level. I was as in much shock as Growlithe. I had chosen wrong. Growlithe should have battled Koffing.

I felt horrible, but I had to focus on what's happening right now. "Let's show them that we can still do this. Go Riolu!"

Riolu tossed his head back and he could sense something had happened and that was why he was out. He didn't question it and turned back to his opponent.

"Alright Whirlipede use pursuit!" Roxie shouted and the same black aura surrounded the tire and it rolled towards Riolu and this was perfect because there was no reason for him to dodge it.

"Stop it and use force palm!" and Riolu put both paws out and completely took the weaken hit but also forcing the Pokémon to a complete halt. Then that same explosive energy fired into the Whirlipede.

Roxie knew at this point that Riolu fought in close combat so I didn't blame her for her next move, but it was a cowardly one. "Use pursuit to get away from Riolu."

"Use quick attack to keep up with him" I said.

The Pokémon rolled away fast but Riolu was a lot faster and came in for the strike when Roxie shouted "Whirlipede use protect."

I smiled because this was where I would end it. "Riolu, smash that shield with feint!"

The Whirlipede had stopped to make the blue shield appear again, but this time it could not hide behind it. Riolu ran straight to it and putting both paws together, smashed the shield it hid behind. The impact did not slow Riolu and landed a critical hit on the Pokémon. Whirlipede rolled back to Roxie and fell onto its side like a flat tire.

"Whirlipede is no longer able to fight and Roxie is out of usable pokemon. That means Blame has won" the judge announced and the crowd went wild as Riolu ran over to me. I hugged him and returned him to his pokéball.

Roxie took the mic from the judge as he exited and said "Well you saw it here. For the first time in a while, I can say I was beaten by a new trainer. Congrats Blame! Come and get your first gym badge."

I walked over with a new found pride I have never felt before and I took the Badge from Roxie. I had done it. "I got the Toxic Badge!" I yelled and Roxie held my hand up for all to see. The crowd cheered and then a different curtain fell right in front of us.

The crowd's cheering became muffled by the curtain and Roxie turned to me. "Even though you were not prepared, that was an amazing battle Blame. I hope you learned something from this fight and from now on you will take extra precaution.

I couldn't help but think of Growlithe and all my joy of winning flushed away. "Yes I did learn something important today. Thank you for everything Roxie," and shook her hand one more time.

"Listen now that you have my badge, there is a man that will give you a free ride. He takes lots of people to the other side of Unova. He is my dad and he will be happy to give you a lift for free knowing you beat me."

"Really, well thanks again Roxie. I always wanted to see the rest of the region."

"No problem. You defeated me so it's the least I can do for you. Good luck with the rest of the badges. They only get harder from now on."

"And I will be ready for them. Thanks Roxie," and I waved bye to her as I walked up the stairs to a small exit.

Once I was on the street I decided to go right back for the Pokémon center. I would rest there for the night and then leave in the morning. I was surprised that people had already heard I had beaten Roxie. They congratulated me in the street and it was very different from what I was used to. I normally never got this much attention for winning a Pokémon battle and it felt good to finally be recognized for my strength and my Pokémon's strength too.

I made my way back to the center and gave the nurse my Pokémon. It was emptier than during the day, but people still congratulated me and I found out why so many people knew of my victory when my dad called me on my Xtransceiver.

"Blame I watched you battle on TV and I am both proud and sad with you," my dad said as soon as I picked up.

My mom pushed my dad out of the way and yelled "Blame, don't listen to your father. You did better than anyone for their first gym battle. It was amazing and that Riolu you caught is so cute yet so fierce."

"Honey can I talk to my son now?" I heard my dad say in the background and my mom made room for the both of them.

"Look dad," I started, "I know now that I chose wrong."

"You sure did," he cut me off, "What were you thinking when you put Growlithe up against that Whirlipede. You should have know it just hide behind protect. Riolu was the better choice to fight him. You're just lucky that Koffing barley did any damage to him."

That pain I felt when I watched Growlithe take that hit came back to me when my dad reminded me of it and I guess my face showed it because Dad calmed down. "Look Blame It's not the end of the world because you almost had one Pokémon faint."

"It's not just any Pokémon Dad, it was Growlithe that almost fainted. I let Growlithe down and because of my carelessness, he was hurt. I failed in being a good trainer to him!" I was flooded with remorse and hated myself.

"Blame instead of hating yourself and letting it build up. Talk with Growlithe and say sorry to his face for your mistake. Being a good person doesn't mean you have to be perfect. It means being the person to admit he made a mistake, he was wrong, and to say sorry. Do that and i'm sure Growlithe will accept your apology and you two came move on together while growing closer," mom interjected.

I smiled because she always knew what advice to give about any situation and it made me feel better. I would take my mom's advice and talk to Growlithe even though I just wanted to hide it and pretend it never happened.

"Blame, also I want you to know that you did an amazing job," Dad said. "You did better than I did when I had my first battle. I lost my first gym battle so i'm so proud that you were able to win your first. At the end of it all, all I can say is that I only get filled with more and more pride with every battle I watch and you're already three times better then when you left. I will let you go now and I will talk more later."

"Bye!" they both said in harmony.

"Goodbye Mom and Dad," and I waved to them as I hung up. I knew my dad meant well and was giving me tough love and good advice. I didn't hate him for it and I still loved him. I love them both very much and knew they were there to help me. I looked up and the nurse was standing in front of me. "Uh, how long have you been there?"

"Long enough to know you have very loving parents. Here are your Pokémon," she said.

"Thanks and do you have a room for me to stay in for the night?"

"Yes we do," and she handed me a key for a room on the third floor and before I could pull out my card she said it was on the house as a gift for my first gym win.

I said thanks and walked up the stairs to the third floor. I made my way to the room and found it was a lot nicer than I could afford and was glad it was free. I threw my clothes into the washer and put on my sleep pants before releasing Growlithe and Riolu.

Growlithe came out looking as guilty as I did while Riolu was wondering why everyone looked sad even though we won our first badge. He resorted to climbing onto the dresser and lying on a pillow and pretended to be asleep while he really listened to what I was about to say.

"Growlithe," I started, "I'm so sorry. I have failed you as a trainer and i'm very sorry for my careless planning. We were rushed and I didn't plan as much as I should have. We should have been prepared. I just…"it became hard for me to talk and instead Growlithe jumped onto my lap and licked my tears away. "Growlithe I'm so sorry" and I hugged him.

"Gro" he responded with care. He did not blame me one bit for this. I could feel it.

"So are we still partners?"

"Growlithe!" He wagged his tail and started licking me all over and cuddled up with me in the bed. I got up after we laid together for a while before I grabbed Riolu. I forced him to sleep with us in the same bed. He struggled at first, but I guess he got used to it and fell right to sleep. So did Growlithe and soon I was lying on my back with two sleeping Pokémon on both sides of me. What could be better than this? My last though before slipping off to sleep was I will always take care of these two Pokémon.

"Growlithe!"

"Riolu!"

I heard a crashing sound that jerked me awake and saw Growlithe and Riolu were playing tag and had knocked over a vase. I couldn't help but laugh and got up and dressed myself. We all had a proper meal from room service and I returned them to their respective ball before going back downstairs. I made my way to the market inside the center and refreshed on all the supplies I would need for the road and left the center for the last time.

More people congratulated me in the street and told me where I could find the man that owned the boat that sailed east. I came into a small boat shop and an older man greeted me. He wore what you except a sailor to wear and he seemed happy to wear it.

"So are you here to sail east?" he asked.

"How did you know?"

"I watched you battle my daughter. Now that you are here, let's go because I have a boat load of people that are waiting on you. I didn't want to leave the city until you came and here you are!"

"Oh I am so sorry. I didn't know," I said feeling sorry that I made people wait.

"Don't worry about it. They can wait and besides they can leave now because you're here. Come outside and follow me to the boat" and I did just that. We took some steps down to the wooden pier and people cheered as they saw me board the boat. I apologized for making them wait, but they didn't seem to care. They were just happy to be going.

Finally I was leaving the city I had just gotten used to. This city was the first of many and I looked at the badge in its case I had and thought that this was the first of many too. All was right.

"Wait for me!"

I turned to see that boy I seen the day before was running towards the boat. I couldn't believe what I was seeing because he was running and it looked like he was going to jump for it. The boat was already pulling away from the pier and was too far away for him to make it. To my surprise, he jumped straight into the water and his Buizel carried him to a rope ladder that was dropped down.

The captain came from behind the wheel yelling "What kind of stupid stunt was that? You could have been really hurt or you could have hurt your poor Pokémon that had to pull your sorry butt onto this boat."

The boy named Mark if I recalled correctly dried his blonde hair and put his hat back on before answering. "Because Buizel and I wanted to get away from that city. It can't hold us anymore and today we will be free to do and choose what we want to do. Now mind your own business old man."

"This boat is my business now you better be able to pay for this ride or I will throw you back off this boat."

Mark angrily took out the correct amount of change and handed it to him before storming off the lower deck of the boat. I suddenly realized this ride wasn't going to be as peaceful as I thought it was going to be. In fact I wanted to get off this boat as fast as possible now. I hoped that wherever we are going, we would get there fast.


	4. Ch 4

-Ch 4 A Turn East-

The huge city called Castelia came into the view and many people rushed to the deck of the tiny ship to look as the huge buildings came into view. The city seemed twice as big as any of the other cities I have been in. The buildings rose to the skies and the clouds seemed to drift around them. The city gave off a glow that seemed to compete with the sun as it started to set.

We have been on this boat for almost the entire day and I mostly relaxed. I had a small fight with that Mark guy, as to be expected, when he saw my badge. I could only laugh when I found out I beat the leader he had lost to. Riolu and Growlithe both relaxed on this ship, but the water had made Growlithe nervous so he stayed as much in the middle of the ship as he could. Riolu on the other hand, watched the waves go by from his perch on one of the boat's towers.

I rushed over to the side and asked if Growlithe had wanted to come too. He was nervous and I ended up holding him in my hands, but I could tell he was glad he did it because the city was beautiful as the sun started to set. I found Riolu next to me as he drunk in the site of the city.

"That's where I will get my fresh start!" Mark promised himself as he pointed to the sea. His Buizel raised his paw in agreement. All I could do was roll my eyes, but secretly I wished him luck in his new life and hoped it would make him less of a jerk.

The ship started to dock and everyone started say their byes to the people they had met on the ship. Everyone said there byes to me and my pokémon. A shiny Growlithe provided them with a lot of attention as did my story of how I got both of them. I was the first to leave the boat and some girls greeted me as I got off.

"Welcome to Castelia City!" the cried out. They must have been a welcoming party which I didn't know we would have for small ship like ours, but real fast I found out how helpful they were. They gave us directions to all the major stops in the city and a map so that we did not get lost in the "hustle and bustle of the city" as they put it.

The girls faces varied, but their outfits told me that this was a job to them. They all wore purple skirt and a white tank top with the name "Friendly Greeters" written on it. I retuned my pokémon and one girl was nice enough to give me a little tour as she led me to the pokémon center since it was the first place any trainer should go. She had a pretty face with green eyes and beautiful brown air that waved in the breeze.

She pointed out a bunch of towers and all the things they held and what their purpose was. I lost interest quickly and noticed no one really walked around with pokémon in the streets.

"So why don't I see any pokémon walking around in the city?" I asked her, changing the subject from a building that she was describing.

She looked down for a second as if trying to come up with a way to answer it. "Look, ever since I got this job, I have gotten asked this question by everyone that comes to visit Castelia. I was told to tell you that it is hard for a pokémon to keep up with the rush in the city, but truth is that pokémon cause trou-"

"Trouble" I cut her off, offended that she said that. "There are no bad pokémon, only bad trainers."

She became flustered and it looked like she wanted to strike back. Instead she collected herself and answered me. "When Plasma raged havoc in the city, they let many angry and frightened pokémon into the city and they caused a lot of destruction because of the threats from Team Plasma and the rage from being separated from their owners. After they were captured and released, the city decided to make sure pokémon were not allowed in the streets of the city. Many people have pokémon inside of the buildings and in their homes, but only the police may have pokémon on the streets and half the time they don't."

"That can't be true. That is so irrational and short sighted. It has been almost 20 years since Team Plasma and still people live in fear because of them. They are gone, why can't people just let the rule go?"

"To be honest, many people became used to it. It just became a part of their day and adjusted to it. Even pokémon seemed to accept the rule."

"That's crazy!"

"That's how it is, now drop it! You don't have to live here and deal with it for the rest of your life so shut up!" She pointed east and told me the center was there and stormed off. I felt bad, but I was angry that was a rule in this huge city.

In the pit of my stomach I guess I felt happy that I had returned my pokémon before coming off the dock. Hate to get in trouble already in the city. I did want to keep a good reputation when I did become more know for battling. I wanted to really be known for what I could do and not what I have done. I wanted to be to push myself and my pokémon and really surprise each and every single trainer I fought.

My thoughts kept me busy until I reached the center and to my relief, I saw people and pokémon inside. I let the nurse take my pokémon and grabbed the map of the city from my bag. The map was like a tourist trap in itself as it pointed out many different places I could visit. I skipped them all and got to the one place I did care about. The gym was seemed to be run by a guy named Burgh and he was a master in bug type pokémon. That was great because while Riolu would have a hard time, Growlithe would fly through these bug types.

That's when my heart dropped at the memory of Growlithe losing to Roxie's Whirlipede even though he had the type advantage. I would need to prepare better besides simply talking strategy with my pokémon. I needed a place to train and practice against bug types. I didn't know much about them and they were my least favorite type because of my burning passion for fire type that was imbedded by my dad.

I looked to the outside of the city and what led where. Going east would take me to a dead end and with no gyms in that section of the region; it didn't seem like a place to go. North was the only other way to go and it lead to a desert in between the cities. That was a horrible place to go if I wanted to train for bug types. My eyes traced back to the east and found on the very far side of the bridge, right before Nacrene City, there was a forest called Pinwheel forest. The perfect place to fight and learn about bug types would be in a forest.

As much as I didn't want to back track and walk the same path, I had to so I could prepare for bug types. I needed to know as much about them. I was good with observation and both of my pokémon were very fast learners.

I decided with the sun setting I would leave the next day. I got my pokémon and walked the city streets to the hotel I was told about that didn't cost a lot. The streets were very lit up from street lights and the building. If I didn't know better, I say this city makes it's own light all day. Even at night I saw many people walking the streets, but it was a lot less crowded. I was about to take a turn right for the hotel when a neon light caught my eye. It glowed bright and the symbol it lit up was the gym symbol. I couldn't help, but follow the light until I passed the dock I arrived on and took another right that led me to a glowing green gym. It had closed for the day, but its windows weren't and I took a peek inside. It was weird because I saw a mix of what seemed to be silk and vegetation, but none the less it was a gym. Seemed like the right place for bug types to have advantage. I guess that is only fair. Trainers know your type's weaknesses, but don't have home field advantage.

I looked at every detail for as long I could before the weird stares I was getting made me leave. I would be back and made my way to the hotel for the night. I got a cheap room and was in bed asleep before Growlithe or Riolu even made themselves comfy.

Day break came and for once, I was the one waking up Growlithe and Riolu. I told them the plan I made in my head and they agreed it was the right plan for us. As much as I hated to do it, I returned Growlithe and Riolu and headed back to the streets. I should have realized I would get lost and hated that I left the map in the hotel. I knew if I could just find the center, I could find the big bridge I keep hearing about.

I started to ask people, but it was as if they didn't have time to even look at me as they raced past me. I was really becoming frustrated and was ready to tackle someone in order to get their attention.

"I told you that people around here don't stop for anything," I familiar voice called out. I turned to see the same girl that given me the tour only she looked to be dressed more like a trainer and less like an employee. She wore purple jeans with her boots covering the lower part of her legs and it had straps on the sides as if they actually did something. She wore a white tank top with green leaves in the shape of a heart on it with an unzipped white jacket that had a single purple pokéball on right, covering her heart. To top it off, she carried a rather large green shoulder bag with a white leaf printed on it.

"Hi, you look better in the get up then your uniform yesterday" I greeted with a smile as I made my way to her, trying not to be trampled. "You know I never got your name yesterday."

"I did not stop you to take complements on my clothes. Look, I wanted to apologize for me being so rude to you. You're not from around her so I guess you couldn't understand." She smiled and told me her name was Katie.

I wanted to say that you could live here and the law still make no since, but pushed it away and tried to be nice. "Well it's nice to meet you Katie, I'm Blame. So can help my find my way to the big bridge you mentioned yesterday. I need to go east."

"Why east? I thought you were a pokémon trainer by the look of yourself. Don't you want to stay and fight Burgh first?"

"I do, but based on past experience I need to prepare and there is no better place to prepare than in a forest full of bug types."

"So you battled him before?"

"No I already beat Roxie from Virbank City. I learned a lot from that so I need to find a place to get prepared. I plan to only battle him once," I pulled out my badge case and showed her the Toxic Badge I had gotten as proof to back up what I had said. Her eyes got big and asked if she could hold it.

"I have never known a badge could be so shiny," she said as she looked it over.

"Well I spent a good amount of time looking at it and polishing it," I said, slightly embarrassed.

"Well you did a good job at it. So changing the subject, would you like to know where the bridge is?"

I got the badge back and said yes and she lead me to the Skyarrow Bridge. After a little talking I learned that she wanted to battle gyms, but was not blessed with a lot of money and with few trainers in a city full of people, it was hard to make money so she got a job. She would work for a year then set off on her own journey.

I did feel bad she had to work. I guess it never did cross my mind that it was because of my dad that I could just get up and walk out the door without thinking about money. He was after all, a successful scientist so he did make a good deal amount of money.

"Hey what if you took a break to travel with me to Pinwheel forest. Get a taste of what it's like to be a real trainer for a while?" I asked after thinking it over.

"Wait really?!" I had caught her off guard and she stopped to really think about it. After a little she asked "How long do you think it would take to get to the forest?"

"Well… uh… I don't really pay attention to time. I just walk and enjoy the moment. If I had to guess, the map made it seem like a hour because of the bridge, but I planned to stay at the forest for a week at least."

"Wow you really do live like a trainer." She walked a short distance and pulled a planner out of her bag and looked it over before making a call on her Xtransceiver. She talked to what seemed like her boss and then her mom for a while. Her mom seemed to have a problem with it until a man's voice, her dad I assumed, ended the mother's panic attack. The call went dead and she returned to me with the biggest grin I have ever seen and her blue eyes glistened with anticipation.

"Let's go to the forest!" she screamed and pulled me all the way to the exit of the city.

The bridge was a lot longer than any other bridge I have seen. The race of trucks caring food and other stuff in and out of the city right under out feet made me feel unsafe, like at any second I would fall and be hit by one of those huge trucks.

My focus was taken off of the bridge and the girl that I invited to tag along was practically dancing along the bridge. She skipped and jumped and sang. I never thought I would make her this happy, but I was happy I did.

"Hey are you going to keep looking down at the truck or what? Your missing a great view if you look anywhere other than down," she called out to me.

"The trucks just make me nervous being under my feet," I scrambled to change the subject so I could keep some of my man hood still. "So have you ever been on this bridge before?" I was starting to have to jog to keep up with her as she danced and skipped along the bridge.

"Yes plenty of times, but then I…" She stopped at what looked like the middle of the bridge. "My mom always told me to never cross this line until I really was leaving the city." She raised her foot and took a step across it.

"So did it feel any different from the millions of other steps you have taken in your life time" I joked.

"I feel… free" She didn't even warn me as she raced off down the rest of the road.

"Hey wait," I yelled. She was fast and I didn't have a chance to take in the scenery as I raced to catch up with her.

She was breathing hard, but not as hard as I was when I found her at the end of the bridge that led into the building. I could see the huge forest in front of us and that got my energy back. I told Katie to take her tired butt and follow me. We crossed in to the building and the man was nice enough to give me some stuff to help fight poison and other affects for my pokémon. He told us to stay on the main trail and we would find Nacrene City by night fall.

"Well this is it," I said as we put our new supplies into our bags, "You ready to cross into a place you never been before?"

"I have never been more ready in all of my life," she practically sang and we crossed into the forest.

The forest itself was not like the one I got lost in. The trees were twice as big and all kinds of plants I never seen before was growing. Not to mention all the different kinds of flowers. It bustled with life and I spotted a few Pansages jumping from tree to tree.

"Well let's start walking," I said and we began to walk. After a little I was beginning to worry that we were in a forest and not on a route. Like before many pokémon may not be happy with seeing us. I watched the tree line and the very tall grass, but nothing jumped out at us.

"Why are watching the sides of the trail so intently," Katie asked.

"Well my first night on my own, I got lost in a forest kinda like this one, but smaller trees. The pokémon did not take kindly to me and made my first night hard. Very hard," I sighed. That was a understatement of how bad that first night was.

"Wow, well I'm glad you're here to show me the ropes," she smiled.

"Yea your right, I'll start with telling you pokémon tend to back off by simply seeing you with a strong pokémon."

"Do you have any?"

"They may not look like it and that is one of their advantages," and I grabbed Growlithe and Riolu's pokéball. I forget that they even haven't met Katie yet. I pressed the button on their ball and they both popped out. Riolu came out and first thing he did was look and take in his surroundings. Growlithe didn't even have a second to react before Katie was all over him.

"I didn't even know that a Growlithe could be gold! I never have seen a gold growlithe before." Katie was all over Growlithe and Riolu laughed at Growlithe and that only made it worse for him. So he pulled away and tried to chase down Riolu.

"Hey you too get back here. Growlithe you remember the last time we were in a forest!" I yelled. Growlithe stopped dead in his tracks and gave a good look around before walking back to me with his tail raised and was prepared to jump into action at any second. Riolu, confused by this sudden change in mood, got the message that this was a bad time to be playing around and stayed close to me.

"Wow your pokémon really listen to you," Katie said after observing the whole situation.

"It's called a bond. I have a good one already with these two and I only hope to increase it and before you ask, yes he is gold and he was born that way and yes I will take very good care of him. I will not let a soul touch him."

"I see you have been asked this many times before."

"Every single time I bring Growlithe out in public."

"Well I have heard about shiny pokémon, but never actually seen one before." She bent down and introduced herself to the two pokémon that were on high alert. "Hi I'm Katie and your trainer is doing me a huge favor by taking my along on this little trip."

"Growlithe!"

"Riolu".

Both of my pokémon smiled and greeted her, before going back to scanning the surroundings.

Katie stood up and said "I never knew a shiny pokémon was a real thing until today."

"I never knew shiny pokémon were real until Growlithe hatched" I responded. I wanted to change the subject, but the subject change found me.

"Hey cutie, what are you doing walking with this loser," the undeniable voice of Mark rung through the forest and I turned to see him and his Buizel looking over at us.

"I don't know who you are talking to, but if you ever call me cutie again, I will smack you!" Katie called out.

"Whatever babe, I got no quarrel with you. I'm here to take that badge from Blame," Mark snered. I started laughing so loud I think everyone could hear me. "I'm being serious with you Blame. I know I'm better than you so I want that badge as a symbol of your weakness."

Once I stopped laughing and collected myself, I called back, saying "even if I was dumb enough to agree, you could never beat me. I go two strong pokémon and you only got one."

"That's where you're wrong. Go Venipede!" A venipede appeared from his pokéball and now two pokémon stood at me. My pokémon could sense the rivalry between us and already Growlithe was growling. Riolu was ready for a fight and walked right up front, followed by Growlithe. "I hope your pokémon don't have more spine that you do to take my bet. You ready to lose?"

I looked at his two pokémon and while the Buizel seemed to be a high enough level to make him tough, the venipede looked like he had only owned him for a few days. Both of my pokémon glanced back at me and their eyes told me they knew as much as I did that he did not stand a chance.

"Hey Katie, do you mind if you wait at that log?" I asked as I took a few steps back, "This won't take long."

"Sure. I would love to watch you fight Blame. Kick his butt!"

"With pleasure," and I turned back to Mark. "So I'm guessing you want to do a Double battle then?"

"Fine by me, I will win no matter what," he gloated.

"Then I'll start. Growlithe use ember on the venipede!"

"Buizel protect Venipede from ember with water gun!" Mark countered.

Buizel jumped right in front of Venipede and spewed out water at the hurling ember attack. It left nothing, but steam as it quickly disappeared. This buizel was going to become a problem real quick for Growlithe if I don't do something.

"Riolu use quick attack!" I shouted.

"Venipede use screech!" Mark again countered.

Riolu sprinted right for Buizel, but a horrible noise pierced not only my ears, but also Riolu's. He couldn't help, but stop dead and hold his ears until it passed.

"Now use rollout Venipede!"

"Not so fast, Growlithe use ember on the rolling Venipede!"

"Quickly Buizel protect him with water gun."

Venipede rolled right for Riolu, but Growlithe's ember attack made it hard to hit him. Growlithe stood back as he launched fire at the rolling pokémon. The problem was that water gun was being used not to attack, but to protect Venipede. Growlithe could faint him in one solid hit, but Mark had trained Buizel to act like a body guard. I never seen this before and it was really starting to bother me. I had to figure out how to get to one of them without the other coving him and protecting him from being hit. This was his plan all along. To get me into a double battle that he has been practicing.

I needed a way for them to break apart long enough for an opening to hit one of them. That's when the thought hit me. I know Growlithe knows it, but I have never tried it.

I snapped back to reality as I watched Riolu get hit with rollout and a sonicboom nailed Growlithe. Growlithe backed up as he waited for Buizel to make another move. Then I saw Venipede do a u-turn and come in for a second strike. This was the best shot I would have. "Riolu, counter it and toss him at Buizel."

Riolu jumped over the rolling ball and grabbed the tail of Venipede. He then threw him over to Buizel, knocking them both over. Riolu returned to me and now it was my turn to strike. "Growlithe use helping hand on Riolu."

Growlithe nodded his head and put his paw on Riolu. Suddenly, white fire bust all around Riolu and you could tell it boasted his attack. That's what I needed. "Now that you powered up, Riolu use quick attack again! Single out Buizel and strike him down." Riolu used quick attack and left a small trail of white fire as he ran faster than ever before. Mark couldn't get the words out of his mouth fast enough before Riolu smashed into Buizel.

"End that speed with scree-"

"Growlthe use ember one more time!" I cut Mark off.

Venipede rose up to use the move again, but Growlithe struck him right in the gut with ember. The white fire burned him to a crisp and he fainted on the spot.

"No! Venipede return," and Venipede disappeared back into Mark's ball. "That's it. No more going easy. Use water gun on Growlithe."

Buizel recovered from Riolu's attack and spat out a rush of water. The water went straight for Growlithe, but at the last second Riolu used quick attack to protect Growlithe from the hit. He stood right in front of him with his arms out stretched and took the hit. It was strong and it doused the power of helping hand.

"What is with your pokémon?" Mark yelled, annoyed nothing was going his way.

"Back off, you were practically doing the same thing" I yelled angry that just happened. Growlithe caught Riolu from hitting the ground and I could see he was saying thanks. "Are you ok Riolu?"

"Riolu" he said as he stood up. It was a bad hit and once again I could see pure will shinnying from him as he stood up.

I was about to yell for another attack, but Growlithe stood in front of Riolu and white fire sounded Growlithe as if he used helping hand on himself. No, this was different. It was a move and watched as Growlithe ran at Buizel with this cloak of fire and I realized this was flame wheel. Growlithe's new move hit Buizel, but being a water type, it didn't do much damage. Growlithe quickly looked to me and barked at me. I knew what he was planning and I didn't like it.

"Buizel use water gun again on Growlithe and make sure it hits this time!" Mark yelled.

Buizel did not wait as he let the water fly straight for Growlithe. This put Growlithe right where he wanted to be. I watched as Growlithe dug his paws into the dirt and I didn't have a second to think about what I was doing, I just had to trust and act.

"Growlithe use flame wheel!" I yelled.

The cloak of fire came just in time as the water hit Growlithe and steam quickly sounded the field. I knew it wouldn't last long and I looked to Riolu and yelled "use feint!" Riolu jumped right into the steam and appeared on the other side and kicked Buizel right in the stomach, sending him back a few feet.

The steam cleared and Growlithe was drenched, but as he planned, the cloak of spinning fire he gets when he uses flame wheel saved him from taking the full blow. He was weak and I needed to end this now. "Growlithe can you use one more move?" I called out.

"Grow," he said weakly while nodding his head.

"Then use helping hand on Riolu!"

Riolu made an effort to move as close as he could so all Growlithe had to do was place his paw on him. A cloak of white fire covered Riolu and this boasted his attack tenfold. Now all I had to do was keep Growlithe out of the line of fire and get Riolu to finish this. I felt bad because it seemed Growlithe was doing all the sacrifices and Riolu was getting all the glory, but he can't continue to fight a water type even if he's a higher level.

"Enough of this love story crap!" Mark yelled angrily. "Buizel, avenge Venipede by using water gun again on Growlithe."

I had let Growlithe faint once, I wouldn't have it happen again. "Riolu use counter on that water gun!"

Riolu stepped in front of Growlithe and formed a blue ball of aura that the water became caught in. Riolu then put his paws forward and let the more powerful move right back at Buizel. With no time to react, the countered water gun landed right on Buizel. It was twice as strong, but still a water type attack. I watched as that Buizel struggled to get back up; I needed to end this now.

"Riolu end this with force palm" I said while pointing at Buizel.

""Keep him back with sonicboom," Mark said in a panic.

This was it. Riolu knew how Buizel used sonicboom from his last battle with him and raced right up to him before he could clap his paws tighter. Stopping his paws, Riolu then placed a paw on his white belly and the power of helping hand focused into force palm and a super charged white aura exploded from his paw. The powerful move sent him flying back and he landed right in front of Mark, fainted.

Mark quickly returned his buizel and grabbed his hair. "Why can't I beat you?! You didn't even train as long as I have. I had a prefect strategy and everything."

"Face it Mark, you just can't beat me," I gloated, but in the back of my mind I knew that was a close battle. Not as close as Roxie, but close. "Look Mark that was a good battle," I said trying to cheer him up as I walked over to Growlithe with a potion in hand. Riolu also came over to me to check on his partner.

"That was nowhere near a good battle. I lost and it sucks!" Mark furiously shouted.

"You be quiet, you did amazing. You both did," Katie's silence throughout the entire battle had made me forget she was there and it shocked me. "You both fight with amazing grace and power that I never seen from trainers as young as you." She looked down and quieted a bit and said "You guys are luckier than you know."

"The young lady is right. You both are very talented for being only beginners," a voice called out to us that I never have heard before.

A man walked out of the woods and my heart skipped a beat as I recognized who it was without a second of doubt.

"You're N!" Katie and I said simultaneously, shocked at who we were looking at.


	5. Ch 5

-Ch 5 The N in Nothing-

He wore a white coat with green fire on the bottom of the coat with a black t-shirt underneath. He wore tan pants and green shoes too, but what really told us it was him was his signature necklace and gold cube that hung from a pocket in his coat at his side. His hair still very green and very long.

"Oh so you have heard of me?" he said with a smile.

"Your name was all over the news when Team Plasma was making a mess of the region," Katie said, "In fact the only reason you're not in jail is because you helped stop Team Plasma after the second uprising."

"Yes not one of my finer times of my life, but thanks to a trainer, I was given a second chance and a new way to think. Now I walk the region sharing what I have learned and helping where I can."

"Then why are you here?" I asked.

"Well," he started, "Nothing important. I just had a friend tell me he wants to meet me beyond this forest, in the rolling hills of Route two."

He smiled and waved bye as he started to walk off. I was dumbfounded and as I turned to Katie and Mark, they were just as confused about what had happened. He was very quick with his speech and just like that was still walking. My curiosity was getting the better of me and ran over to him.

"Hey do you mind if I tag along?" I asked. "I would really like to see who this friend of yours is."

"Wait what about training in the forest? You said you need prepare for the bug gym," Katie questioned.

"I know, but being able to go with a well known trainer is a lot better than staying in a forest for a week," I responded.

"I know quite a bit. I could teach you about bug types if you do choose to follow me," N offered. "I could tell you all I know as we walk."

"Good enough for me. Come on Kaite this is part of being a trainer, which is to jump at any opportunity that crosses your path."

"He is right," N said with a smile.

"Then I'm all for it," she exclaimed, "let's all go to route two!"

"I'm not," Mark denied, "there is no way I would travel that long distance with Blame."

"Well I will just tell Blame al the things I know about battling," N said, "and then that would make him twice as good as you."

Mark's face went red and he quickly changed his mind. "Fine I will go with, but don't you dare think this makes us friends Blame."

"No problem there," I muttered.

"Good then let us leave this forest. There will be only so much time before it gets dark and I don't want to get lost in the forest again," N admitted with a smile.

So for the next several hours the three teens trailed one of the most well known and one of the strongest trainers in the region. Katie was learning what it meant to be a trainer and while Mark hung out in the back I could tell he was closely listening to everything N said.

I asked question after question about bug types that I have hoped to learn through observation in the forest and he answered them as if it was second grade knowledge. I learned that bug types, offensively, are somewhat flawed. They are effective against Psychic and Dark types, but their strength against the very common types isn't as effective. That would mean I wouldn't have to worry as much about their strength.

In terms of defense, they stand a good chance against fighting types and dual types like bug and flying and bug and poison have double resistance to Fighting. Riolu was going to have a hard time against them. That would mean Growlithe is going to have to hold up the team. This wasn't looking good for me. I need another pokémon to help because Growlithe can't sweep an entire team. Well maybe not a gym leader's team. I would need a second pokémon to take the weight off Growlithe's shoulders.

Mark eventually started to ask a few questions about training and how to work with his pokémon better and Katie learned more about the life of a trainer and what it means to be one. The questions soon were becoming a barrage and N soon was becoming over whelmed. You could hear the relief in his voice when Nacrene City came into view during sunset hours.

It was strange, but he drew almost no attention as we walked into the city. You would expect people to be reacting for good or bad, but no one seemed to notice or care. I was so not used to that because Growlithe made everyone stop in the city to talk to me and investigate the gold Growlithe.

He led us to a café called Café Warehouse and offered to pay and I didn't need to be told twice. We took a seat outside and after our orders were taken, it was N's turn to ask the questions.

"So now that you all seemed to get all those questions out of your system, I wanted to ask each of you a question," N said.

"What is that?" Mark asked. He sat as far from me as he could while still being considered at the same table.

"My first question is for Katie," he stated as he turned to her. "You seemed to love the idea of becoming a full trainer. While you chase that goal, what do your pokémon mean to you in the terms of meeting that goal?"

She thought for a short moment then said "I think to be a trainer, you have to have pokémon, but as a trainer I have to have that connection with my pokémon."

"You want a connection because you have to or because you want too?"

"I truly want to see my pokémon grow with me and we both learn from each other. I want them as my friend not only so I can rely on them in a battle, but in everyday life."

N seemed to like her answer and I felt like our trainer ways were being evaluated. He turned to Mark and questioned him next.

When I watched you battle with your pokémon, their battle cry was as strong as yours, but the level of connection was a little distant. You had your buizel defend your venipede and your pokémon screamed this was a bad idea against pokémon as strong as Blame's. Why did you choose not to listen to your pokémon?"

Mark seemed dumbfounded and he looked down in shame as he tried to think of a way to answer. There was a long pause before he answered. "I guess I just didn't trust Venipede yet. I have had him only for a few days and he was new to battling. I was worried he would be a problem when I fought Blame's Growlithe and so I had Buizel protect him."

"And how do you think that made Venipede feel? From the second you began to battle, Venipede had lost hope that he would win, but he still fought hard to try and impress you. You just let that fear separate you from him and that made you distant. Thus you couldn't hear Venipede tell you he could fight better."

"I guess I need to say sorry to Venipede then."

"You should."

Mark made a promise that he would tell Venipede how he felt and together they would grow stronger and Buizel would be his partner, not protector. This pleased N and the moment I dreaded happened as he turned to me and asked his question for me to answer.

"Blame, your Growlithe knew he would suffer a bad attack when he rushed Mark's buizel. He knew it would hurt a lot, but in the end that chance he took led to your victory. Blame, why did you listen to Growlithe instead of doing what any sensible trainer would do and pull Growlithe away from the fight and let Riolu take over?"

I took a breath and told him what I thought from the bottom of my heart. "To be honest, I didn't want to do it. I wanted to put Growlithe in his pokéball the second it became a one on one battle. I was scared he would faint and that would mean I would fail him as his trainer."

"But you didn't return him," N countered.

"Growlithe wanted to take the chance. I could see it in his eyes and to my better judgment, I trusted him."

"That is what your Growlithe said."

"Wait, what?"

"Your Growlithe cried out to you saying, trust me Blame, I know what I'm doing and you knew what he said. That must mean you have a deep connection with your Growlithe to hear what he said, hearing not with your ears, but with your heart."

The thought struck me deep. Was I really on that level with Growlithe? What about Riolu, was it the same with him? I wanted it to be, but I didn't think that was the case yet.

"So the tales are true then," Katie exclaimed, "You can talk to pokémon?!"

He smiled and said "it could be true." He turned back to me and continued. "Blame you have a deep connection with your Growlithe and I hope you strive to have that with all your pokémon. You have a lot of talent. You both do and I know one day I will battle the both of you to test your will and to hear what your pokémon say about you. Until then, let's just enjoy the food and time in the present."

With that said our food was brought to us and we ate ourselves full. We ate in rather silence as everyone took in the priceless info given to each of us. We rested our pokémon in the center in the city and made our way to a hotel made from a warehouse. N paid for all of our rooms and I threw my clothes in the washer and soon was curled up in bed with Growlithe and Riolu was not too far away.

By daybreak, Katie banged on our door, demanding we get up so we could leave. It seemed N had her wake both me and Mark up because when I came out of my room, he was as tired as I was. Once outside we said bye to the city full of warehouses and old railroad tracks and followed N to route three.

Route three was a place I wish I would have spent more time hanging around because the wild pokémon were some I never seen before and while there were many trainers to fight, N seemed to be in a rush. He did stop to let us have a few battles and gave us tips after each fight.

Maybe it was cause Mark was tired or maybe something else, but he was a lot nicer to me today and we even fought together in a double battle together. He denied it, but we did fight well together. I even got watch Katie have a battle with a youngster.

Turns out Katie had a cute, but fairly strong petilil that was as green as summer grass. The problem we all noticed was that they both lacked in the confidence of their battle strength and it led to her losing to the trainer's blitzle. While we tended to our pokémon, N had taken her to the side and talked with her for a long time. He eventually gave her a max revive for her petilil and she was red in the face when she came back, but didn't want to talk about what he said.

After her battle, the walk was pretty boring. N was walking fast and told us he didn't want to be late. I didn't have much time, but what I could tell was that route three was a beautiful route. The bridge across the river was my favorite part. It was a nice forest sounding the area, but there was a clear trail and that's that way I liked it. I spotted many different pokémon and thought again about needing a third partner for my team.

What would have been a two day trip for me, N made us rush so much that by sunset we had entered the garden outside Striation City. The garden was beautiful and the many rose bushes lined the ponds were we spotted water pokémon hanging around. The huge water fountain reflected the orange light from the sun as it set and it looked like orange water. N stopped for a few minutes to enjoy it then hurries us into the city. The city itself was more like my home city of Aspertia. Many different kinds of buildings and a huge lit up restaurant.

Once again, N the way to the pokémon center and we all had our pokémon healed. While we waited on our pokémon to be brought back, N told us what he planned next.

"We have arrived on time. Tomorrow we will meet my friend in route two and I'll take my leave from you three," N said.

"What? You're going to leave us after you find your friend," Katie said, upset he would be leaving.

"Yes my dear. I will have to take my leave, but I know one day our paths will cross again." He looked at all of us and repeated "I know all of your paths will cross mine again."

I had to admit I was sad that he would be going. He taught me a lot and I grew to having him around. Mark seemed to hate the idea to, but I knew that also meant he wouldn't have to be near me much longer and that made him smile. He could not hide it after a second of being upset.

N wanted to eat with us one more time and lead us to the big restaurant, east of the pokémon center. Upon entering I quickly realized I was glad N was paying because there was no way I would be able to afford it. This place was fancy. The walls were lined with paintings and the table's cloth looked fancy. There was even a stage in the back where I guessed that bands and shows were put on. To bad there was no show tonight.

A women greeted N with a smiled and welcomed him back. We were surprised she knew him, but I guess he must have been a regular. We were seated in the front, to the right and a waitress came to take our orders. I felt bad because everything was so expensive, but N assured us not to worry about it.

I never have had fried rice as good as theirs in all of my life and Katie couldn't stop talking about her spaghetti. Mark was too busy eating his ramen to talk about it. N simply enjoyed his plate of vegetables and buttered bread.

Soon our plates were empty and our bellies full. Their food was great and three men brought us our check. Each of them wore the same uniform, but in three different colors.

"Well if it isn't one of our best customers," the guy with blue uniform and blue hair greeted. "Who are these kids your with?"

"Hi Cress," N greeted, "These are a few trainers that have been traveling with me for the past few-"

"Trainers!" the red haired guy cut in, putting his hands on the table. "How good are you guys? I been dying for a battle and no trainers have come in for the last week and I'm so bored."

"You guys have pokémon battles in your restaurant," I questioned.

"Of course we do. We battle in a triple battle against the three of us and if the customer wins, they don't have to pay for the meal."

"Well it's good we have enough to pay," Mark said, "cause we have battled enough for one day."

"Well about that," N admitted. "I don't have enough to pay for all of us."

"What?!" the three of us gasped.

"I guess you three are going to have to team up to battle," n said with a smile.

"This was your plan all along," Mark exclaimed, "You wanted us to battle them."

"You are very smart Mark," N said calmly.

Mark grabbed his hair and laid back in his seat and groaned.

"Uh, well if you can't pay. You will have to battle for your meal because we have many dirty dishes tonight and they are no fun," the green haired guy said.

"Just meet us on the stage gentlemen and gentlewoman," the Cress guy said and the three of them walked up to the stage and began to prepare the stage for a battle.

I looked at Katie then at Mark and sighed. "Come on guys, we have no choice. We have already eaten and there is no way we can pay for it," and stood up to show I would do it.

"Fine, I guess we have no choice" Katie sighed and stood up too.

Mark groaned again, but stood up and N trailed us to the stage that was now fully lit up. The three men greeted us and I turned around to see all eyes were on us now. It gave me that same feeling I had back at my first gym battle, but way less people.

"Are you prepared?" the blue haired guy asked.

"They are" N answered for us.

"You shut up. You should be battling them," Mark snapped at N.

"Let's just focus on the battle Mark," I cut in before he could yell anymore at N.

"Well then let us properly introduce ourselves. My name is Cress and I'm the water type

specialist out of the three of us," Cress said.

"I'm Chili and I have a burning passion for fire types," Chili said with a grin and thumb pointed at himself.

"I am Cilan and I prefer to use grass type pokémon," Cilian said rather shy.

"She is Katie, that's Mark, and I'm Blame," I introduced, pointing at who is who.

"I can't wait anymore. Cilan, get the stage ready. I want to fight!" Chili exclaimed.

Cilan nodded and pressed a switch and the stage we stood on began to move. The wall that was the back of the restaurant opened up and the platform moved on a rail outside. A reinforced window took the place where a wall used to be and it separated us on the outside from the restaurant. The stage expanded and the three twins took their place on the far left side. We made our way to the other side and N jumped off and watch from the ground.

"I'm so fired up! I'm so ready to battle!" Chili exclaimed and threw a pokéball into the air. "Go Heatmor!"

The anteater pokémon erupted from his ball and I didn't need a lot of knowledge to know that was a high level pokémon. The three of us would all lose to just him.

"Wait," N interrupted, "they are not that experienced yet. Only one of that has a actual gym badge and the other two don't have any."

"What! That sucks. That means we are going to have to use our low level pokémon," Chili said while returning Heatmor.

"We have to fight fair and give them a chance," Cress said.

"That is what makes it fun," Cilan added.

"Fine, Let us show them a fair and fun fight. Let's go Pansear!" Chili yelled with no less enthusiasm.

"Come on out and show your strength Panpour!" Cress called out with the toss of a pokéball, releasing Panpour.

"I choose Pansage to help my brothers," and Cilan's pansage landed right next to the other two pokémon.

"I guess it's our turn. Go Petilil!" Katie exclaimed.

"Show them how it's done Buizel!" Mark yelled.

"Burn them out Growlithe!" I also yelled, not letting Mark take the spotlight.

Petilil, Buizel, and Growlithe appeared from their pokéballs and landed on our side of the battle field. All three were healthy and ready for a fight. This would be a interesting battle.

"Wow! Look at that shiny Growlithe," Chili called out, "I hope he is as good as he looks!"

"He will give you a run for you money," N cut in, "I will judge this battle. Is all trainers set?" He waited as we all nodded out heads and our pokémon yelled their battle cry. "Then let the battle begin!"

"Pansear use fury swipes on Growlithe!" Chili started. Pansear ran up Growlithe, but I would teach him real fast that you can't run up to Growlithe.

"Growlithe, bite when ready!" I countered.

Pansear ran up to Growlithe and right when he was about to strike with his extended glowing claws, Growlithe dodged the first swipe and bite paw that had just missed. Real quick, Growlithe threw Pansear backwards.

"Panpour, use water gun on Buizel," Cress said and his panpour let water fly straight for Buizel.

"Buizel use water gun too," Mark cried out. The two water guns met in the middle, causing a massive explosion of water. It fell like rain, hurting Growlithe, but not really affecting Petilil.

"Watch it Mark. There are fire type pokémon on the field," I warned.

"I know. I was hoping it would also hit the Pansear, but it seemed to have missed him," he replied with little care about Growlithe.

"What! You did that on purpose!"

"Focus on the battle," N reminded me. "Mark, work with, not against your teammates."

I was about to say something else when the cry of Pansage brought my attention back to the battle and I watched him hit Petilil with vine whip.

"Growlithe use ember on Pansage!" I said, trying to keep him from attacking Petilil any longer.

Growlithe let the flying white ball of fire towards Pansage and it seemed like a good hit, but Panpour jumped in front of Pansage at the last second and water gun quickly evaporated the ember and the rest hit Growlithe straight on.

"Growlithe, you alright?" I asked. He nodded his head. He had taken worse hits from a water move, but no less it did do a good deal of damage.

"Use fury swipes!" Chili and Cilan said and the two pokémon rushed towards Deerling and Buizel and they both began to furiously scratch my teammates. Buizel took a few hits before managing to blow Panpour back with sonicboom and Katie took the opptuity to get some health back and had Petilil use mega drain to get health back from the pokémon that had just attacked hers.

"Buizel, retaliate with water gun on Pansear," Mark called out. Buizel spat out water right for Pansear, but then Cilan yelled for Pansage to jump in front and use vine whip. The vines cut right threw water gun and it hit Buizel, doing some major damage.

"Why aren't they going for the opposite type?" I thought to myself. Pansage goes for Deerling every time and the same for the other two. They only use their type advantage move when we do and it is used mainly for defensive purposes that become offensive when we least expect it. It's like they force use to go for the other type then turn that against us when our guard is down. I had to test it to see if this was indeed their strategy. I knew this would back fire on me, but I believed that Growlithe could dodge it and I needed to know what their strategy is for sure.

"Growlithe use ember on Pansage," I called out and right after Pansage shrugged off the loss of his health to Petilil.

As expected, Cress had Panpour come to the rescue and use water gun, canceling ember, and the rest of the move rushing right for Growlithe, but this time he was ready and Growlithe jumped out of the way with the water just grazing the fur on his tail.

"Mark, quickly, tell Buizel to use water gun on Pansear. Then right after that, Katie have Petilil cover Growlithe," I said loud enough for my teammates to hear, but not loud enough our opponents to overhear.

"I will do what I feel is best," Mark arrogantly said.

"Just do it!" Katie barked at Mark. "I know what he is planning."

Mark was not happy, but he listened and Buizel used water gun again. Pansage, once again, protected Pansear and it cancelled water gun.

"Growlithe use flame wheel on Pansage!" I exclaimed.

White spinning fire sounded Growlithe and he charged right for Pansage, causing him to stop to using vine whip to run from Growlithe. Cress rushed Panpour to use water gun and when Panpour had his attention on Growlithe that was chasing Pansage, Petilil ran over and hit Panpour with mega drain, getting more health back. The save from Petilil gave Growlithe enough time to hit Pansage with Flame wheel and Mark didn't need to be told to save Petilil. He had Buizel attack Pansear with water gun and it was a direct hit. We had landed all three moves on our opponent's pokémon and they staggered to recover from it.

"Cress, Cilan, time to switch it up," Chili said.

"With pleasure brother," Cress responded, "they seemed to have figured out our defensive strategy. Panpour throw Pansage!"

"Pansage throw Pansear," Cilan said without hesitation.

Panpour, the strongest after our all out assault, grabbed Pansage by the paw that had locked tails with Pansear and threw both of them into the air. Pansage then used his tail to throw Pansear right over our pokémon's heads.

"Now use incinerate!" Chili yelled.

Pansear flew over our pokémon's heads and let fire rain down on them. The fire scorched Petilil, leaving her weak. Pansage then fell right on top of Buizel, using vine whip on him. I yelled for Growlithe to save Buizel, but another water gun blast through the fire and Growlithe didn't have enough time to dodge as he was hit again with water gun.

The most complex combo I have ever seen had left our pokémon weak. Petilil was still standing, but Growlithe and Buizel struggled to get off the ground, barley awake.

I thought about switching when Chili started laughing. "I was hoping that the shiny fire type would be more of a challenge, but it looks like all he is good for is fireworks."

The enraged Growlithe and he let out a howl of anger and I called over to him. "You haven't seen anything yet. I been trying to work with my teammates, but that's over now. Growlithe rush Pansear with Flame wheel."

Growlithe surrounded himself with the spinning white fire and ran towards Pansear.

"Protect him with lick," Cress called out.

Growlithe came within striking distance when Panpour jumped from the side and licked Growlithe. It paralyzed him and Pansear hit Growlithe with Fury swipes, sending him running back to the opposite side.

"So how did that work out for you, Blame?" Katie sneered. "These guys work in a team. We can't just do what we want."

"Blame, do not lose focus on who your opponents are because you get mad. Trainers are at battle with each other as much as their pokémon and you just let Chili get the advantage over you. Keep a level head at all times!" N cut it.

"Yea I got it," I sighed. I was mad and Growlithe was on the verge of fainting. This seemed to be a repeating theme. I would not let Riolu come to the rescue again. Growlithe can do this. We just need a new plan.

"Hey I know I have a idea after watching Blame's Growlithe get hit like that" Mark started. I was going to say something, but Katie silenced me. "My idea is that we do what they are doing. Let's force them to attack us. They wait until we get near to strike so why don't we do that?"

"Growlithe can't move to well so this would work," I said while looking at him. He hid his face from me because he knew the second he showed any real pain to me, I will not hesitate to remove him from the battle. I was worried, but I needed to trust him and make sure he wins this.

"Let's use the stalemate to get my pokémon's attack power up" Katie said. "Petilil use growth!"

"Let's help them out. Growlithe use helping hand on your teammates."

Petilil glowed green as she gained bonus attack power and then both pokémon became surrounded in a veil of while fire, raising their attack. Now that our pokémon looked twice as powerful, we needed to make them come to us.

"Let's make it look like we are preparing some big combo attack," Mark whispered. "That would make them worry and have to get us before we can do finish it."

We agreed and I told Growlithe to move behind the two pokémon and Katie had Petilil get on top of Buizel. To be honest we had no idea what we were doing, but it sure did make our opponents worry, because very quick the triplets had their pokémon all rush us and use fury swipes. This was the right time.

Katie yelled for Petilil to use leech seed and the seeds landed righ on all three pokemon. Buizel then used a super charged sonicboom to blow the three pokemon off of their feet and Growlithe hit Pansage with ember, knocking him out.

"No Pansage!" Cilan cried out.

"Pansage is unable to fight anymore. Cilan is out of the battle," N said.

"Don't let up," I yelled at my teammates. "Let's get the rest of them."

"I won't. Petili, draw their health from them," Katie exclaimed. Petilil leeched the health from the retreating pokemon, causing them to fumble. "Now use mega drain on Panpour!" Petilil drained the rest of Papour's health, causing her to faint. Petilil was now returned to full heath back at full heath after those two attacks.

"Panpour is also out," N stated. "Cress is defeated."

"Well I guess that is it for me," Cress sighed.

"I will not lose like this," Chili exclaimed. "Use incinerate Pansear!"

"Growlithe jump in front of Petilil!" I yelled. I knew from my Dad that Growlithe had the potential to have one of two abilities. He had identified one of them and called it flash fire. If he has it then it would allow him to absorb the incoming fire attack and double his fire move's strength. If he doesn't then I have let my Growlithe faint, but I took the chance anyway.

Growlithe, who has been in the back the entire time, summoned the rest of his strength and ran right in front of Petilil. The flames from incinerate came right for him and hit him directly, but I watched in amazement as the flames absorbed into Growlithe's body. Power had returned and he began to glow even more than normal from the extra power that he had gained from the move.

"So you do have flash fire, Growlithe. That's awesome!" I said with much excitement. I returned my look to Chili and said to him "So now you want to see some fireworks? Show him Growlithe and use ember one more time!"

Growlithe, who two seconds ago was very weak, stood strong and bared his teeth as he built up a strong ember attack. Flames began to leak from his teeth until he released it right for Pansear. The ember raced right for him and before he could even move, white fire exploded all around him, leaving him lying on the ground with almost no health left.

"How's that for fireworks," I gloated. "Mark, want to finish this?"

"Oh now are you done putting on a show?" he said sarcastically. "Yea let's finish this battle. Buizel use water gun on Pansear!"

Buizel that still had the power boost from helping hand, let water fly towards Pansear. It soaked him as it knocked him off his feet. When the water disappeared, Pansear had fained.

"Dang it!" Chili cried out.

"Pansear is no longer able to battle. All pokémon have been defeated and that means Blame, Katie, and Mark has won the battle!" N announced.

"Yes!" the three of us cheered and the applause from inside the restaurant reminded us that people had watched us. This feeling was just like beating a gym. It sure was as hard as one.

N climbed back on the stage as it began to return inside of the building. We bowed for the people and then the triplets walked over to us and each of them pulled something from their pockets.

"We may not be a gym anymore, but we sure do fight like one," Cilan started. "This is what our old badge used to look like and we called it the trio badge only it is now made of only silver."

"Take it with you because it will remind yourself of the victory you had over a gym leader in a battle," Cress said.

"Cause you guys deserve it" Chili said with enthusiasm. "We haven't had a battle that great in a long time. You three are all very strong."

"Wait this used to be a gym," Katie said, shocked. "That means this is my first badge." Katie began to tear up as she took the badge and held it up to examine it.

Mark was no less to have a badge even if it wasn't official. He looked at it then showed it to Buizel and told him it was a sign that they will get all the badges and become the best.

I took the badge myself and bent down to let Growlithe see it. While it was only made of sliver, it meant we had battled our second gym and Growlithe had been the one to win it. I congratulated him and we hugged before I returned him to his ball so he could rest.

N said it was time to leave and we waved bye as we walked out of the store to pokémon center. Once inside and our pokémon healing, N pulled us to the side.

"I wanted you all to know that you battled great together. You all did great and each of you work well with the other one person."

"I knew it," Mark cut in, "You did do that on purpose."

"You are right, but I did it because I wanted to watch the three of you fight a difficult battle together. Each of you battle well but it is because of your friendship and rivalries that make you three fight so well together. I know we will battle someday. I can feel it"

N told us more about what we did well together and what we didn't do well. He seemed to highlight for me that I let Chili's words get to me and that through my guard off. I would remember that for sure.

Soon our pokémon was returned to us and N paid for some very nice apartments in the city to try and make up for pretending to not have enough money. As usual, I threw my clothes in a washer and jumped into bed. I let Growlithe and Riolu get comfortable as I began to tell them all that I learned from N and what we can work on as a team. They both agreed and Riolu soon afterwards fell asleep on dresser with a pillow under him. Growlithe had made himself comfy on the bed near me and fell asleep too. I closed my eyes and imagined what a shiny arcanine might look like and soon dozed off as well.

The banging on the door woke us all up and I looked at the clock to see that the sun had only been up for a hour and it wasn't fully lit outside.

"I'm trying to sleep," I yelled. "It's not even six yet!"

"Hey N woke me up too and i'm already dressed so come and get out of bed," Mark yelled from the other side of the door. "He said that we will miss whoever we are meeting if we don't hurry up."

I groaned and got up. I wasn't even awake as I put my clothes on and got my pokémon up. They weren't any happier than I was to be up at this time.

Eventually I was awake and out the door. N met us at the entrance to the hotel and was fully awake while the three of us were barley awake, but I did perk up when I watched the sun rise over the hills in route two. There were trees and hills for what seemed like forever. The sun made it seem prettier and secretly I was glad I had woken up to see this. We all watched the sun rise together before N had to hurry off if we were going to catch his friend.

My curiosity returned and left to figure it out. We stayed on the trial for the most part, but eventually we split from and walked southeast in the tall grass. Several times a pokémon jumped us, but we took turns chasing it away with one of our pokémon. After a while we came to an old stair case that vines had grown over it and climbed them to the top.

The stairs led up rather large hill and you could see the next city in the distance from where we were. N pointed out that the city was called Accumula Town and beyond that was the small town called Nuvema, home of the old professor Juniper and is also the home town of late hero Hilbert.

N grew quiet when he mentioned him and seemed to be in thought. The rumors I heard was that he left to look for N when he ran off in the company of a legendary pokémon, but now N was back and he was still gone.

We sat for a while and for the first time in a while I felt that this was right, to travel with these three other people. I had be thought I be happy with just being with only my pokémon, but I have grown to like the company of people too. In the back of my mind, I knew I would have to leave each of them.

This had upset me when N jumped up. "He is here. I can hear him coming our way."

"Where?" I asked and we all stood up to look around.

"There," and N pointed to a hill that was not much higher than us, but was far off of the route and only trees were on the other side, except for a exposed hill top. In that exposed area is where a beautiful white Absol appeared.

"That's your friend?!" Mark gasped.

"Shush, he is telling me something important," N said, shutting Mark up.

The Absol stared at N for what seemed like forever and looking real nervous are he stood there as if the ground under him was going to collapse. Finally N nodded his head and the Absol did the same and disappeared into the forest, running the opposite way where the route was. N was quiet as if he had learned something eye opening and he began to walk down the stairs.

"So what did he say?"Katie asked.

N thought for a moment then said "Nothing. I can't tell you everything, but as I feared, I will have to leave you three fine young trainers. I have to go see Nate because right now he is the only one that can help me."

"What is so bad that you have to go see the region champion?" Mark asked.

N stopped and looked at all three of us and said very seriously "You three continue to train your pokémon and become strong. Do that and focus on becoming the great trainers I know you will become. Do not worry about the problem for it is my problem and is for me to worry about. You do what you do best and train your pokémon as strong as they can become, because one day they may be needed to help stop a crisis." N smiled again and started to walk back towards Striation City before stopping again and turning to us. "There is a man that has a boat in route one and give you a ride back to Castelia City. Tell him N sent you," and with that said, he started walking again and waved bye to us.

"Bye N! Thanks for all your knowledge you shared with me!" I yelled as I waved bye.

"Yea thanks for everything N. You may be a little weird, but you're alright with me," Mark said as he waved bye too.

"N, I learned a lot from you. I truly feel like I will be a successful trainer because of you. Thanks for everything!" Katie called out to him.

We all waved bye and he waved bye one more time before disappearing over the horizon.


End file.
